There’s something unsettling about “Daddy” in the best possible way. It doesn’t ease you in or offer comfort. Instead, Black Bordello pull you straight into a world that feels part cabaret, part fever dream, where emotion is exaggerated, distorted, and impossible to ignore.
Fronted by Sienna Bordello, the South East London group have built a reputation for blending theatricality with unpredictability, and “Daddy” might be their most exposed moment yet. Written in response to the loss of her father, the track approaches grief through surrealism and performance, turning something deeply personal into something expansive and almost mythic.
Rather than following a traditional structure, the song moves in waves. It shifts between quiet, suspended moments and bursts of intensity, mirroring the instability of memory and emotion. There are traces of post-punk, progressive rock, and art-pop woven together, but none of it feels fixed. The arrangement keeps changing shape, pulling the listener further into its orbit.
Sienna’s vocal sits at the centre of it all. She moves between control and collapse with striking precision, one moment delicate, the next almost confrontational. It gives the track a sense of tension that never quite resolves. You’re left sitting in the feeling rather than being guided out of it.
Lyrically, “Daddy” reaches beyond autobiography. While rooted in her relationship with her father, it also gestures toward wider ideas of authority, absence, and identity. The figure of “the father” becomes both personal and symbolic, adding another layer to an already complex piece.
Fans of artists like Björk, Kate Bush, and Siouxsie and the Banshees will recognise that same commitment to atmosphere and transformation. Black Bordello operate in a similar space, where genre is fluid and emotion takes priority over convention.
As a first glimpse into their upcoming album Midheaven Tempest, “Daddy” sets a clear tone. It’s bold, theatrical, and unafraid to sit in discomfort. More than anything, it shows a band willing to take risks, not just in sound but in what they choose to reveal.
Upcoming live dates (UK) :
29th April – Hot Box, Chelmsford
30th April – Golden Lion, Todmorden
16th May – Alt Escape @ Dalton’s, Brighton
17th May – Speedway, Folkestone (supporting Jarboe – SWANS)
25th July – Alice’s Wicked Teaparty, Dorset
1st August – Kendall Calling, Lake District
