Creature Cult Shares New Single 'HEADFIX'
Creature Cult | Photo credit: Aron Hugh
Creature Cult, the project of Essex-based musician Connar Ridd, today releases new single ‘HEADFIX’.
Already establishing himself as an uncompromising voice with a rallying-cry attitude that refuses to accept the status quo, ‘HEADFIX’ joins the powerful ranks of Ridd’s recent singles that have so far addressed issues such as homophobia, self-expression, mental health battles and relationships. Wielding an anarchic mix of styles from punk, rock, pop and electronic, he is unafraid to speak up and fight against out-dated social conventions and injustices against the LGBTQ+ community.
‘HEADFIX’ takes aim at the current state of our country’s mental health provisions. Borne from his own damaging lived experience, the song lambasts the transactional, conveyor belt nature of the system, and its cycle of box-ticking that can sometimes do more harm than good. In a world in which the pressure to be “fixed” is laid at the door of those suffering, wherein timescales are put on recovery before you’re out on your own again, ‘HEADFIX’ questions archaic practises of diagnosis and the fight to even be heard in the first place. The song’s sonics mirror the pattern of this process, its dizzying conclusion matching the disorientation and frustration of how these situations can play out.
Expanding on the song and his own experiences, Ridd says:
"'HEADFIX’ is about feeling completely let down by the government for underfunding mental health services. I went to the doctors for my mental health problems and was given a leaflet. I then signed myself up to a 12 month waiting list for therapy. All I needed was to speak to someone and it’s scary knowing how far away help is whilst also having to keep yourself going in the meantime.
If you go to the doctors for a physical problem, they offer tests, examinations and, in most cases, immediate treatment. However, my experience of speaking about my mental health issues was that it put the responsibility on my shoulders. When you feel so weak and full of darkness it’s difficult to feel like you can take anything else on, especially a solo uphill battle to get help. When I did get therapy, I was given 10 sessions to feel better and then I was sent to the back of the line.
Mental health problems are proven to be best treated with both medication and therapy so it seems crazy that only one of those is readily available. People are speaking up more about their mental health every day, which is great, but the government has to back this up with properly funded support. We are doing our part by being open but are being so badly let down which will only discourage people from talking.”
Listen of ‘HEADFIX’ on streaming services here and share via YouTube here.
My sanity slipped through your grip
I’m just another hopeless head to fix
Creature Cult is from the small towns that make you feel like you should be somebody else, from the suburban areas where the normal and boring tower over you like skyscrapers. He is for the queer kids, the unapologetic misfits with red, blue or whatever colour hair, the kids with smudged makeup. He exists in a world where to be called freak and ugly is normal and where dressing up is beautiful. ‘HEADFIX’ makes for another firm marker for the kind of change he wants to see in the world, and delivers a message loud and clear - in the face of bigotry and hatred, be uncompromising in your self-expression.
