Clifford hints that Veronica Falls were burnt out by the time they polished off an exhaustive touring schedule for ‘Waiting For Something To Happen’, and confirms that there were attempts to write towards a third record. “We were working on music, and there’s still a lot of unfinished songs,” she tells me. For her own part, though, she wasn’t necessarily tired of the guitar; it was more a case of wanting to forge another identity entirely away from the band. “I do really miss playing in a guitar band,” she admits. “I’ve actually recorded a whole guitar-based album as well, but when it came to putting it out, there was just something about it that I didn’t feel 100% on. It wasn’t different enough.”
Patience, then, has only truly come to fruition since Veronica Falls went their separate ways, although some of the ideas that have found their way into the songs stretch back to long before that point. “Some of the lyrics I’ve had for a while, and a lot of the influences are people I’ve admired for a long time. I mean, the name is a good example of that; I’ve sort of used Patience as a pseudonym for ages, on Internet things. I’ve always really liked that word and its connotations. That was very organic, especially because I’ve always liked how these disco artists tend to have one-word names, like Clio or somebody. And then, there’s lyrics that go way back, like on the first song I finished, ‘The Church’.”
There’s something about that first single that feels transitional, as if we’re actually listening to the sound of Clifford putting clear water between Veronica Falls and her new project. Her vocals aren’t as cool and snappy as on ‘The Pressure’ and its B-side ‘Wait for You’, and instead, everything feels a touch dreamier, with the synths slowly undulating amidst a general sense of lo-fi murk that seems to have since gone by the wayside. Clifford has been in transition personally and geographically, too, moving to California and leaving much of her old musical circle behind.
“I moved to LA because I’m going out with somebody who lives here, so I was already spending quite a lot of time here anyway. I absolutely love London, but this felt like a new perspective, with new people to be inspired by, in new surroundings. It’s a great city, and somehow is still relatively affordable by way of comparison to the rest of the world. I suppose I was a little bit jaded by Britain, but now, I still feel like I’m on holiday every day. I don’t know when that’s going to wear off.”
The music Clifford made with Veronica Falls always felt very much rooted in the British climate, from the all-encompassing gloom of their debut to the subdued introspection of its follow-up. It’s hard not to jump to certain conclusions when you realise her first foray into out-and-out pop comes at the same time as she finds herself waking up to a blue sky every morning. “That does make a big difference,” she admits, “but I think there’s pluses and minuses to it overall. The main thing I miss is the British sense of humour; people are very different here. Plus, it’s not just a case of missing my friends – it’s the way I feed off of them, creatively, which I can’t do long distance. I’m not a sun worshipper, either, and there’s a lot I love about the weather in London, but the surroundings here have been inspiring in a completely different way. You can’t help but be affected positively by the sun being out every day.”
