Becca Mancari has just released their third album, Left Hand, via Captured Tracks. It features contributions from Julien Baker, Brittany Howard, and Paramore’s Zac Farro, and it continues down the synthy dream pop path of 2020’s The Greatest Part. Becca made us a list of some of the things that influenced the album, including a mix of music, books, movies, therapy, and more. Stream the album and read on for what they had to say…
The Tree of Life and Women Talking (films)
I am really drawn to other art forms like film when I am making records. So, I re-watched The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick and that really impacted the song “You Don’t Scare Me.” I was incredibly moved by the movie Women Talking, and these kinds of films heavily influence my writing.
The Artist Way (book)
I started the book The Artist Way in early 2022, and the act of doing my three pages in the morning really helped unlock my writer’s block that I had at the time.
Houston Kendrick – Small Infinity and Kehlani – Blue Water
An album that I listened to pretty much on repeat was this record by a local artist in Nashville, his name is Houston Kendrick and the record is called Small Infinity! I also listened to the new Kehlani record Blue Water a ton, but other than that I actually try not to listen to too much music during a recording session because I don’t want to be too influenced!
Therapy
Got to give a huge shout out to the therapy that I did during the making of this record. Interestingly, I had never been to therapy before Left Hand and it honestly saved my life.
Nature walks
I have found that if I am not in nature I am not at peace fully, and I spent a lot of time on walks with my dog during the making of the record. We have this beautiful park that is close to my house, and I think I worked through the whole record in that park on those long walks.
Yoga
I started back into yoga and also recently started to meditate, and that has been an absolute life changer for me.
Dictionary
One thing that I did when I would get stuck in the writing process is I would take out my Webster dictionary and just look through the words section by section, and although it might seem like an obvious practice it actually was really helpful and enjoyable!
Paper cut-outs of lyrics
I really like to see things visually. I made giant paper cut outs of the lyrics for my songs on my studio walls so that I could go through the songs and make edits.
Having a routine / alone time
A big thing for me during the making of a record is creating a routine and really kind of protecting my time, and energy! So, when I make records I kind of disappear. The act of being alone at first helps really know what I am trying to say and feel.
Vibrational frequencies
I love to listen to vibrational frequencies, and I especially like the frequency of 417 Hz.