Say Now: ‘We’re doing all of the issues the Spice Ladies did – however on-line’

“I really got here up with six in a row,” says Maddie, proudly. “I used to be actually simply spurting them out, like, “Say That! Say Reality! Say… Now.” By that time, although, they’d been by means of so many names that virtually every little thing anybody stated sounded a bit naff. So, they did what any cheap group of ladies would do when making an vital determination and determined to sleep on it. After they awoke the subsequent day within the flat they share collectively in London, as Amelia places it, they “have been like, ‘Say Now form of eats.’”

Lady bands have a very vital place in British pop historical past. From Bananarama to the Spice Ladies, Sugababes to Ladies Aloud, few ladies within the nation can say they weren’t not less than a little bit bit influenced by seeing sisterhood writ massive and searching glam on High Of The Pops. Lady bands are enjoyable, aspirational and ensure Radio 1’s always equipped with bangers. However they’re additionally inherently feminist – whether or not they’re shouting “Lady Energy” or not – exhibiting younger ladies that they will do something, particularly together with your finest mates by your aspect. So, when Little Combine went on hiatus in 2022 and left a gaping gap within the charts, there was just one query on the minds of the UK’s pop stans – who, if anybody, would step in because the nation’s de facto massive sisters?

“I really feel like we’re the subsequent era of lady bands,” says Ysabelle, sitting cross-legged on a excessive stool, her Bella Hadid-style saggy jorts revealing a pair of bang-on-trend brown boots.

Maddie, who seems decidedly extra Child Spice in a pink ruffled tank and matching stilettos, agrees. “We’re encapsulating how enjoyable it’s to be a lady our age on this era,” she says. “We’re so into trend, enjoyable, dance and simply being all over the place. And that’s what Say Now could be.”

“What reminds you that we’re a modern-day lady band is how numerous we’re,” provides Amelia, who immediately is bringing a dose of pirate-chic to the group in striped hotpants and a brown denim corset. “After I look again in any respect the opposite bands, variety was virtually not there, actually. We’re all from completely different backgrounds, completely different cultures. Now, folks can see themselves in us and be like, ‘Wait, I appear like Amelia,’ ‘I appear like Yssy’, or ‘I appear like Maddie.’”

“Additionally, lady bands within the outdated era didn’t have social media,” says Maddie. “We’re nonetheless doing all of the issues that the Spice Ladies did, being chaotic, however we’re doing it on-line.”

The Spice Ladies come up so much throughout our dialog. Say Now have already been in comparison with the likes of Little Combine and Sugababes, which, naturally, they take as a praise (“We’d say we’re daughters of Sugababes,” says Amelia). Nevertheless it’s clear Sporty, Scary, Child, Ginger and Posh are their final references. “They actually enforced a message that took the entire world abruptly,” says Ysabelle. “They really have been large. And I don’t assume folks actually understood what they stood for.”

“Lady energy, for our era, feels actually regular, as a result of we’re so good at championing ladies and feminism,” says Amelia. “However again then, that was loopy. They have been like, ‘Lady energy!’ And folks have been like, ‘What?’”