The Snow Maiden (Pt. 1)

'The Snow Maiden (Pt. I)' is the debut studio album by British dark-alternate duo, Status, which consists of Jodie Steele and Amy Taylor (Stacy Clarson originally). It was released on 21st January 2013 via Blacklight Records and charted at number one upon a released. The girls worked with various producers on the album, including Liam Howe, Rick Nowels and Emile Haynie.

A dark, dramatic and graphic, the girls shocked the industry, bringing such a harsh and honest album. Relying on big production and articulate lyrics the album received positive reviews from fans and critics alike and remains a high seller for the year so far overall, as well as Blacklight's highest seller of the year to date. The girls debut single, The Man That Wasn't There, was released in April, followed by Midnight Hour, Enemy Lines & Enemy Lies and Monster In Me, in July, October 2012 and April 2013, respectively.

The album sold incredibly well when compared to other artists of a similar genre. it achieved a Diamond certification after just 25 weeks, with a total of 1,007,819, continuing to sell strongly. The album was the seventh highest seller during 2013, selling 1,511,367 by the end of the year.

Background and development
'The Snow Maiden' era began recording in February 2012, although writing had began months beforehand, with the original line up consisting of Steele, Taylor and Clarson. Originally, the girls were unsure of their sound, starting with a more acoustic sound before finding their niche with the darker, more original sound. The girls finally closed a two-album deal with Blacklight Records in March of the same year. Experimenting with levels of darkness, the three girls released their debut single 'The Man That Wasn't There', sampling 'Antagonist' poem, whilst still recording content for the album. After the release of the second single, Midnight Hour, major problems arose as Clarson attacked Steele in an unprovoked attack on the lead singer, sending ripples through the industry. Forced to leave the group, the remaining members needed to re-record, re-produce and re-mix the track they already had for the era. The versions of 'The Man That Wasn't There' and 'Midnight Hour' without Clarson featured on the album, with no signs of vocals on the other tracks.

The girls have discussed in previous interviews that 'The Snow Maiden' is a character that will hopefully build a picture of the problems in life that are faced, that will continue to grow as they promote and release the two albums.

Inspiration and influences
At first, struggling to find the right sound, the girls experimented with a variety of inspiration and influences for the album. The girls took a month travelling around the world, looking at a mix of higher class and lower class families and began looking at the history of these areas. Finally settling on a darker sounding album, the girls began brainstorming story lines and ideas, creating characters and experiences to use in their songwriting. Steel said in an interview that the girls spent "forty eight hours in a room watching horror films on repeat trying to gain inspiration" "connecting the dots about what makes someone so desperate to be so malicious and twisted in the head to want to commit such audacity and inflict such pain or hatred on someone".

Themes in the album include suicide, stalkers, being perceived as someone you are not and murder. The girls also used past experiences in their life to influence their music. The girls have also stated that they look up to artists such as MIDNIGHT when recording the album. "When you listen to a song, it's a journey and it's takes you on such a whirlwind. She captures something so special, musically and lyrically and I find it liberating".

Recording and production
Recording for the album began in London in early January of 2012, with the majority of the recording taking place in a small studio in central London owned by Taylor's uncle. In an interview promoting the album, Steele stated that they had recorded and produced around forty songs, with the best being selected to be placed over two parts of The Snow Maiden, Part I to be released in January and Part II to be released later in 2013. As of Christmas 2012, around forty songs were recorded, with the girls visiting the studios between the release of Enemy Lines & Enemy Lines and Monster In Me to add to the Status archive.

The girls stuck to a select few in terms of production, with Liam Howe, Rick Nowels, Emilie Haynie, Greg Kurstin being among the only ones to produce for the album. Steele stated in an interview that she felt that by doing this would give them more to work with. "If we called in producer after producer after producer, yes we'd have more people to add to the albums credits but I feel this way we can control the sound more. The producers we're using know us and know what we want to sound like and I feel that is important when you're producing an album",

Discography
Status Discography

As of May 2013, in terms of official singles, the girls have released four, as well as a download only track.


 * 'The Man That Wasn't There' was released as the debut single from the girls. It peaked at number five on the Urapopstar Official Chart, selling 248,947 and being certified with a Gold Certification during it's release period. Despite it's top five peak and chart longevity, it is the lowest selling track of their careers so far. It is the first track on the album.


 * 'Midnight Hour' was the second single to be released from the album in July 2012. Charting at number seven, it is the girls lowest charting single to date. The track did however beat its predecessor in terms of sales, selling 278,692 to reach a second Gold Certification for the girls. It is the last single to feature Stacy Clarson as a member of the group after she was forced to leave due to unruly behaviour.


 * 'Enemy Lines & Enemy Lies' was released in October 2012 as the girls third single from the album and is written by and features Aimee Lyons. Charting at number two upon release, it is thought to be the song that propelled them into the spotlight and sold 409,559, giving them a Platinum certification, the first of the singles to do this. Although the single was seen as a success, a negative relationship between Taylor and Lyons caused tension throughout the release and caused the girls to promote separately on occasions.


 * 'Monster In Me' was released on the 29th April and charted at number two, with the girls being beaten by Midnight, who they claim to have taken inspiration from when recording their album. The single spent two weeks at number two and a further few weeks in the top ten. It sold 457,909 by the end of it's chart reign, reaching a platinum certification. Both girls have claimed it to be the work they are most proud of. As revealed at the end of the year, the song was the biggest hit of May, beating Midnight who kept them off the top spot initially.


 * 'Smoke & MIrrors/Yours To Break' was released as a double a-side in September 2013 and acted as both a closing chapter to Part I and an opening chapter for Part II of The Snow Maiden arc. Acting as a bridge between the two halves, Smoke & Mirrors was written by Jodie Steele and taken from the first chapter, and Yours to Break written by Suicide Blonde for the upcoming Part II. The double release became first number one single for the girls, selling 103,609 which also became their biggest opening figures for them.

Track listing

 * Credits adapted from The Snow Maiden (Pt. I) album credits.