“I don’t know who to be / I see it all in these dreams with you” make up the chorus to Teather’s “With You,” the biggest single from her album It Was Only Perfect Because It Was Never Real. The lyrics encapsulate the album’s fantastical, almost escapist theme. The idea of “your projection of something in your head being so much more powerful than what it is in real life.”

“So many of the songs are me talking about the title,” she says, describing this body of work as “this fantasy coming to life and then dissolving in front of you and being faced with, okay, well, maybe I just made that all up.” This sentiment is felt through the album’s intimate yet inviting lyrics, which have drawn a distinctly female audience. The opening lines to “With You”: “Cover my tears with the smoke, I call my lover a joke / He doesn’t know where I go when I look through it all,” have made their mark on social media through the soundbite on TikTok. While these pop hooks catch listeners’ attention, it's the sultry soundscape made up of an electronic backdrop and trip-hop beats that keeps you coming back for more.

I found Teather’s music on Instagram, a space that seems inevitable and essential for artists to inhabit today in order to promote their work. The algorithm shapes who’s finding you, who’s finding your music, and often who’s judging you. For Teather, the algorithm has blessed her with a fanbase of “really cool, sharp women” who post videos to her music on TikTok. I asked her if posting on these apps can feel like an obligation, to which she responded, “It definitely can, but I think if you view anything around your art as an obligation, it just becomes miserable.” When she started posting what she calls her “thought posts,” where she talks about whatever she's thinking, whatever books she's reading, that’s where she really started connecting with an online audience. “I think it's so pedantic to be like, oh, being authentic is valuable, but it really is.”

Teather began during the pandemic. The artist’s name is inspired by the technical term tether, with a feminine twist, spelled like Heather. “I don’t think I would have started music if I hadn't had everything shut down and finally been able to start producing 'cause I'd always been singing and writing, but I just did not think that production was even an option, because I didn't grow up playing instruments. And then I just had so much time, and I was living with friends and just sitting in the garage and making music on GarageBand, and I just needed all the time for that.”

In a time when there was nothing else to do but stay home and avoid others, the isolation also worked to Teather’s advantage as the creative process was completely insular, “rather than in rooms with people who would be putting their expectations onto whatever I'm doing.”

Teather’s creative process is still deeply insular, even if it's no longer out of the necessity of social isolation. “While I'm writing, I'm not listening to music, I don't want to see people that often. I just want to sit down and get into it. So I think being entirely self-sufficient is really helpful.” This is also a way to take creative control, both as an integral part of being a smaller artist and a personal preference. Teather mainly produced the album herself with help from her friend Sasza Lenne on a couple of songs, including co-producing the rhythmic album closer “Know It Best.” For software, she’s “stressed on Logic.” “I'm pretty software focused, so I have some synth stuff, but I'm so used to being on the computer that mostly I'm working on there.”

In terms of influences, major pop stars like Rihanna and Madonna have made their mark on Teather’s sound, especially the darker sides, though she doesn’t feel the need to make something too pop forward or relatable. Trip-hop group Massive Attack is another big influence, but it's the overall sound of club music, ‘90s electronic music, DJ sets, and electropop that come through on It Was Only Perfect Because It Was Never Real. The album’s sound isn’t tied down to a single artist.

So what’s next? “For my next project, we’re not having fun anymore. I've decided. I'm like, nobody's having fun anymore. I feel like the last album was closing a chapter on pop music for me. I'll always make pop music. I love a catchy chorus, but I have always wanted things to feel and sound really satisfying, and now I'm okay with things not being satisfying to everyone.”

You can find Teather on Instagram @teath3r and on any streaming platform.

Teather Brings Introspection To The Club