
Upon the release of her latest EP ‘T-Shirt Nothing Else’ on March 21, Polly Money sat down with NME to discuss the EP and her sonic inspiration, alongside her thoughts of her 2025 Glastonbury slot and the reality with touring with Manchester’s The 1975.
‘T-Shirt Nothing Else’ exhibits Money’s introspectiveness, blending sonic components of both R&B and indie-pop to bring listeners on a coming-of-age journey. Through the five tracks, the musician navigates her artistry in conjunction with the reality and complexities of living, through themes of love, longing and self-discovery.
When revealing one of her favourite lyrics from the project, she pinpointed a line from ‘T-Shirt’, which inspired the EP’s title. The lyric: “T-shirt, nothing else / She holds me from behind”; Money shared: “I really loved the vulnerability of it and the intimacy of that one line. I love having interludes and short little musical sections that just catch your attention. I didn’t really put a huge amount of thought into it. I just love the line, and I was like, ‘That’s what I want it to be’”.
Although, the singer shared that touring with The 1975 brought on some imposter syndrome, that went on to inspire her track ‘Anything’; she went on to reveal that it also influenced her work and kept her motivated.
The ‘Milk & Honey’ singer joined Matty Healy and co. during their 18-month ‘At Their Very Best’ and ‘Still… At Their Very Best’ tours which celebrated the band’s fifth album ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’. During her time on the tour, Money contributed both guitar and vocals to the shows, most notably singing Phoebe Bridger’s verse in ‘Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America’ and performing ‘About You’’s viral second verse.
Money stated: “So much of that tour had inspired me and motivated me and bled into my music – both consciously and unconsciously. It’s hard to be around a band that good – and I can say that because I have nothing to do with the song they write; I’m a fan as well as play for them – and not be inspired. It gave me a lot of lessons in songwriting, playing these songs and getting really deep into them every night.”
The singer will once again join The 1975 during their headline slot on the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, revealing the opportunity as a “dream come true” and a “bucket list gig”.
In all the excitement surrounding her latest EP ‘T-Shirt Nothing Else’, Money shared she’s already working on her debut album, citing Haim, Dijon, MUNA, The Japanese House and Beabadoobee as “huge references”.
Polly Money’s ‘T-Shirt Nothing Else’ is out now. Tickets for her upcoming show at Oslo Hackney on May 3, can be bought here.