‘I’m intrigued by failure’: Kim Deal on death, addiction – and releasing her debut solo album at 63

Having weathered the losses of close family members and collaborator Steve Albini – and supported Olivia Rodrigo live at her request – the Breeders and Pixies star finds herself mooting mortality and legacy

In all of her decades as one of rock’s great frontpeople, Kim Deal has not once appeared on an album cover. “Back in the 80s, it wasn’t the fashion,” she says, remembering the words of Vaughan Oliver, her label 4AD’s late graphic designer, who did all the artwork for her former band, Pixies, as well as her canonical 90s albums as the Breeders with her twin sister, Kelley. “He would say: ‘You’re an asshole if you want to be on the cover. You just want to be recognised in the streets.’ So it never even occurred to me to be on album covers, because I’m not a weirdo.” She sighs, catching herself. “Not that people that do that are …”

Deal has evaded being that weirdo ever since. The 63-year-old is the star most likely to “show up in sweats”, a self-taught producer who used to solder her own cables. While many of her peers struck out on their own – even her sister – she has always had a band mentality. After the Breeders went on hiatus in 1994, she briefly flirted with going solo. But even that became a band (the Amps) that turned back into the Breeders. “You know, you’re right!” she says. “Kelley and Jim [MacPherson, drums] wormed their way in.” That said, they never quite regained momentum. “Everybody needed a break. And there were things going on that made it difficult. There were struggles …” Well-publicised ones, too: addiction, arrests, fallouts, rehab. “Exactly,” she adds. “But I’m always going to keep writing.”

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