Mariah Carey Reveals Her Secret '90s Alt-Rock Album

It was "just for laughs, but it got me through some dark days"

Photo: Renaud Philippe

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Sep 28, 2020

Tomorrow, Mariah Carey will give an "unfiltered" look at her life and career with new memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey, and she's shared an incredible anecdote from the book ahead of time: she recorded an alternative rock album in 1995.

On Twitter yesterday (September 27), Carey explained how she "did an alternative album" while also at work on material for what would become her 1995 album Daydream. Writing about her work on Chick's 1995 album Someone's Ugly Daughter, Carey explained how her involvement was "just for laughs, but it got me through some dark days."

"I'd bring my little alt-rock song to the band and hum a silly guitar riff. They would pick it up and we would record it immediately," her memoir reads. "It was irreverent, raw, and urgent, and the band got into it. I actually started to love some of the songs. I would fully commit to my character."

A representative for Carey confirmed to Pitchfork that the artist wrote, produced and sang background vocals on every song from Someone's Ugly Daughter, save for a cover of Cheap Trick's "Surrender." Additionally, the rep confirmed that Carey also helmed art direction for the album's packaging and sat in the director's chair for a music video for album cut "Malibu."

Carey's memoir continues: "I was playing with the style of the breezy-grunge, punk-light white female singers who were popular at the time. You know the ones who seemed to be so carefree with their feelings and their image. They could be angry, angsty, and messy, with old shoes, wrinkled slips, and unruly eyebrows, while every movie I made was so calculated and manicured. I wanted to break free, let loose, and express my misery — but I also wanted to laugh. totally looked forward to doing my alter-ego band sessions after Daydream each night."

Someone's Ugly Daughter cannot be found on streaming services, but you can find the Carey-assisted "Demented" through YouTube below.

Carey is due to release a collection of Rarities later this week, ahead of a Christmas special for Apple TV+. Her most recent album remains 2018's Caution.

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