Start Listening To: Tallulah Argue

Toronto-born and now London-based, Tallulah Argue turns “Country Sleaze” into a world of satire, sequins, banjos, and brutally self-aware storytelling on new single ‘Narcissist’ and her upcoming EP Deer in the Headlights.

Tallulah Argue is a Toronto-raised, London-based songwriter blending country touchstones with sleaze, humour, and a sharp eye for modern dating dynamics. With her EP Deer in the Headlights landing in February, she’s building a flirtatious, nostalgic, occasionally self-deprecating catalogue that leans into character, exaggeration, and big-screen drama. Her latest single “Narcissist” is a satirical break-up track that puts self-awareness front and centre, exploring the shift from devotion to detachment and the uneasy way relationships can start to feel transactional. In this Q&A, Tallulah talks about crafting her “Country Sleaze” sound, building an unapologetically glam visual world, writing from different perspectives, and making live shows feel theatrical, seductive, and a little chaotic.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

My name is Tallulah and I’m from Toronto, Canada. I’m putting out an EP called ‘Deer in the Headlights’ in February which is a collection of flirtatious & promiscuous songs- and if not that - then self deprecating & nostalgic songs.

Can you share the inspiration behind your latest single, ‘Narcissist’, and how it reflects your personal experiences or observations?

‘Narcissist’ is supposed to be a satirical take on being a bad girlfriend. The lyrics were inspired after a break up, where I was so truly madly deeply in love with a person when we lived in the same city and then I moved to a new city and all of my desires shifted and suddenly I was no longer in love with them. I didn’t do anything wrong per se but they just felt like an inconvenience to me. It made me feel hyper conscious of our late-stage-capitalist tendencies of viewing relationships as transactional.

What was the creative process like for this track, and were there any unexpected challenges or breakthroughs along the way?

I wrote Narcissist with Hugo Hardy like two years ago and I remember bringing in “Some Girls” by the Rolling Stones as a sonic reference, which is funny because they don’t sound remotely similar, but I guess both song lyrics have incredibly bitchy themes and lead singers...;)

How does your background in Toronto influence your music today, especially now that you’re based in London?

The grass is always greener and I’ve been referencing Toronto and Canada in my songwriting and visual work now more than ever!! I wrote a song the other day that starts out with “I’m Miss Canada, chilling by the liquor store” which maybe is an attempt to iconize a place that globally doesn’t feel that pop-culturally iconic? I have a newfound reminiscence attached to where I’m from that I didn’t necessarily have when I was growing up there, probably because it feels easier to romanticize from afar. I’ve been told my vibe resembles a coming-of-age film, and London is so fresh to me that it doesn’t have the nostalgia Toronto inspires me with. I’ll be spending time in LA in March so I’ll probably start romanticizing London at that point haha.

Tell us about the visuals in the ‘Narcissist’ music video; how do they complement the themes present in the song?

Oh god, it’s just soooo self absorbed. My best friend, Stella, is my partner in crime with my visual world. She does my styling and makeup for every shoot and live show I do. For ‘Narcissist’ we wanted to lean into the showgirl world with sequins, retired prom dresses, tacky feathers, twangy sleaze.. The video itself is interwoven shots from a show I did at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto and then just me in glam staring into the camera looking full of ittttt.

You mentioned your genre, Country Sleaze; how did you arrive at that unique blend of sounds and influences?

Well a few years ago I fell in love with Lucinda Williams’ album World Without Tears. I love country music and then I love everything else. And to me, ‘everything else’ becomes this messy sleazy smorgasbord of themes and sounds combined with pedal steel, banjo and North American lyrical references. I struggle to write a song that lives in one emotion, it’s always this blend of heartbreak and love and humour and sex and country guitar riffs and makes me feel like i’m a slutty country fan who would never be accepted into country music.

What role does storytelling play in your songwriting, and how do you balance personal experiences with broader themes?

I went through a long period of not dating, so the romantic experiences to draw on naturally dwindled, but character building is so important to my songwriting. I love films and visuals centered around mundanity, because I find them relatable to my life, but then I exaggerate them through performance and lyrics and visuals. I really enjoy writing through the lens of straight men. I've written several songs through the perspectives of either different men in my life or fictional ones, and getting to pretend to be them through song writing. It’s like playing dress-up. Especially in country music, which is rooted in tradition and heteronormativity, I’ve spent a lot of time understanding gender archetypal roles such as the virginal “good girl”, the family man, the reckless hell-raiser. Those are all voices that inform my storytelling. They’re not separate entities; they can often engage with each other in one song.

As a performer, what do you enjoy most about connecting with your audience during live shows, especially at your upcoming headline gig?

I’m a very needy, attention-seeking person, so I do my best to make my live shows a grand seduction. I find it really fun to crawl around on the ground with everybody, flirt, tease, kiss, giggle. I love that people have tried to do a mosh pit at my gigs because it’s not really the vibe, but fingers crossed they keep up the good work. I love making gigs more of an ‘experience’, so doing outfit changes on stage, having special instruments like a cello or banjo, making it very theatrical. I have some close friends who have literally never missed a show so that means so much to have them there with me.

In what ways do you hope to engage with your community through your music and performances moving forward?

Shock factor and rage bait not sure how yet but i think i need to let loose a bit lean into the unhingedness

How do you see your music evolving in the next few years, both in terms of sound and thematic exploration?

I wanna get nicher and nicher with the country music references. I’d love to take a whole summer and go live in the Appalachian mountains and read and listen to everything there is to know about country music and totally nerd out on it. I wanna get creative, and be able to intelligently suggest production ideas instead of just being like “ok let’s add a banjo now lol”.

What inspired you to explore the themes of self-awareness and selfishness in your new single ‘Narcissist’?

Often break-up music can be centered around being the victim, which is very valid, but I don’t have much experience being the victim with my past lovers. I thrive in a relationship when I’m getting a lot of attention. I can be really loving when I want to be (so I’ve been told) but I guess this is an attempt to be brutally honest about my behaviour.. It’s a recurring theme in my dynamics with men where I’m more of the ‘taker’ and dismissive and bossy and power yielding, but actually recently I experienced the opposite dynamic for the first time ever and it was very mind-fucking. I hate being the victim and he was lowkey mean. It was good timing for this song to come out so I could be like, OK yeah, that was a blip, now I’ll return to destroy future potential courters.

What do you love right now?

The Sopranos

What do you hate right now?

Tony Soprano

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

Katy Perry’s One of the Boys because no skips, bangers, sick production, so baddie, 10/10

When someone hears your music for the first time, what do you hope sticks with them?

I hope they can find the banjo hidden in every song!!