dilettante
Dilettante, the project of Leeds-born multi-instrumentalist and award-winning composer Francesca Pidgeon, released her highly anticipated second album Life Of The Party on January 24th, 2025, via Launchpad+ / EMI North. The album is a journey of self-discovery and acceptance, set to a backdrop of lush arrangements, sharp lyrics, and the unmistakable sound of an artist coming into her own.
Known for her loop heavy live shows and contagious art pop, when not making music as Dilettante, Francesca also moonlights as a member of BC Camplight. In 2022, Dilettante released her debut album Tantrum, which received widespread support from BBC Radio 6 Music, leading to sold-out headline shows across the north of the UK, as well as opportunities to support prominent artists like Self Esteem, Caribou, and Graham Coxon.
Now Dilettante returns with Life of the Party, her first totally self-produced record and her most personal one yet. Made in the confines of a converted freight container, the album is an outpouring of frustration towards societal pressures and the acceptance of realising she sees the world differently to others.
The album covers a range of topics, from turning thirty and feeling the pressure to start a family, to grappling with the constraints of monogamous relationships and the realisation of her neurodivergence. “I started talking to people about their experiences with getting Autism/ADHD diagnoses last year,” Pidgeon shares, “and it felt like a bit of a light bulb moment for me where I realised that maybe there was actually something inherently different in the way I was experiencing the world, and that was why I’d always struggled connecting with most people.”
SXSW 2025 LIVE DATES:
Mon 10th - NORTH: Different by Design @ BME, Palm Door on 6th - 5.15pm
Mon 10th - Beyond The Music @ BME, Palm Door on 6th - 8.00pm
Tue 11th - British Underground @ BME, Palm Door on 6th - 5.15pm
Tue 11th - Live At Leeds @ Seven Grand - 8.20pm
Wed 12th - Northern Sound @ BME, Palm Door on 6th - 2.50pm
MANAGEMENT / LABEL
whiskas@launchpad-music.com
simon@holymolymgmt.com
claire@launchpad-music.com
RADIO
BBC 6 Music - Steve Lamacq, Chris Hawkins, Nick Grimshaw, Huw Stephens, New Music Fix. 2 x Marc Riley Live Sessions. BBC Introducing,
PRESS
Uncut, Mojo, Record of the Day, The Line of Best Fit,
“Pidgeon creates groove-laden misfit art-pop worth rooting for: "Easy Does It" stacks looped brass parts, synthesiser and her own vocals as miraculously as a Jenga tower, while messing up never sounded as sensual as on the sumptuously slinky "To Make Me Good". - Uncut
“Pidgeon explores lyrical themes less plundered (polyamory; neurodiver-gence; societal expectations) via un-second-guessable songs you can hum. Prince seems an audible influence, Harry Nilsson and Milan Kundera are acknowledged ones. Fold Life Of The Party in half, squeeze, and talent would surely ooze out.” - Mojo