South London duo Shelf Lives return this week with new single ‘Skirts & Salads’, marking a year since the release of their self-titled debut single ‘Shelf Life’. ‘Skirts & Salads’ is the first new music to be heard following their widely praised debut mini-album Yes, offence – released on the band’s own Not Sorry Mom Records imprint in April earlier this year.

‘Skirts & Salads’ was co-produced by the band’s frequent collaborator SPACE (IDLES, Do Nothing) and was written shortly after the recording of Yes, offence was wrapped, at a time when the pair had the likes of Vegyn, Deftones, Aphex Twin and Turnstile on heavy rotation. That diverse sounding board helps to assimilate Shelf Lives’ own unique sound. An unholy melting pot of explosive electronic percussion, searing guitar work and irrepressible vocal turns, “Skirts & Salads” lyrically finds vocalist Sabrina Di Giulio taking aim at societal female stereotypes.

Speaking on the lyrical inspiration behind the new song, Sabrina said: “‘Skirts & Salads’ is inspired by general female stereotypes, we’ve kept it pretty obvious with the lyrics. It’s written and delivered in a tongue in cheek manner and we thought it would be interesting incorporating chauvinistic language but using it to our advantage in a way; referring specifically to the line “I like/want my girls like that”. Without really realising it we are highlighting how annoying it is, as well as how deeply rooted these ideas and language are in our society and….sub-consciousness.”

A high-octane trashy pop banger based on a porn sample that spawned a shopping list of female stereotypes; rather than mount a soapbox, however, Sabrina absorbs those stereotypes and spits them back out in the chauvinistic hook “I want my girls like that” – delivered in an ironic drawl. The title itself mocks the reductive way society still thinks of women, with Sabrina contemplating the first things that generally come to mind. “I was like… I love a salad? That’s one,” she laughs. “And that’s the whole point. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s about the annoyance of that being the whole definition. What are women? Skirts and salads.”