Nandi Rose Plunkett, better known by her stage name Half Waif, has been writing music since she was very young, and her new The Caretaker album is her fourth full-lengther in total, though her first for Epitaph sister label Anti- Records. She’s an occasional member of New Jersey band Pinegrove too, so she’s put in the mileage with this music game.
“My dad’s a musician, and I grew up around family gatherings where people would play folk songs, a lot of Joni Mitchell, The Band and Simon & Garfunkel,” she says. “So really early on I was making up songs, interpreting my surroundings through songwriting. It was very much a source of play for me as a kid, something fun to do. Then when I was in middle school, I started to come to songwriting as a place of soothing and healing. My parents separated when I was 14, and just the basic confusion of adolescence prompted me to view songwriting more as a vehicle for safety.”
Half Waif’s music has an extremely personal vibe, raw even, for something so fully produced. She struggles to define her sound, but eventually lands on: “Experimental electronic pop. I think of it as folk and pop songwriting structures with electronic and cinematic arrangements.”
After spending a lot of time on Brooklyn label Cascine and fulfilling her contract with 2018’s Lavender album, Half Waif is delighted to be stretching her legs and working with Anti-.
“I’m 31 now and have been doing this for a really long time and this has been a journey of slow growth,” she says. “But throughout all of that, I’ve been held by the safety net of my love for music. Anti- has long been one of my favorite labels. I really admire their roster, it’s so diverse.”
The Caretaker landed on March 27, and Half Waif is stoked with the result.
“Lavender was recorded with a band and we arranged it more collaboratively,” she says. “The Caretaker was a return to a solo project. I had a lot more control over the arrangements and production. I feel like it’s the next step forward for me, and I’m actually pretty deep in the next one.”
Date Signed: Jan. 24, 2020
Label: Anti- Records
Band Members: Nandi Rose
Type of Music: Pop
Management: Andi Wilson, [email protected]
Booking: Carly James, [email protected]
Legal: Eric Morris
Publicity: Eloy Lugo, [email protected]
Web: half-waif.com
A&R: Andy Kaulkin
