Even as a child, Phew realized she was a bit different. "When I was at school, if the teacher told a joke and everyone else in the class laughed, I was always the one who couldn't see what was funny," she says. "I've always been like that."
At 56, the singer and avant-garde artist is still as unconventional as ever. This month, she releases her first solo album of original material in two decades, and it's a late contender for most alienated record of the year. Titled "A New World," it's full of creaking rhythms and uneasy synthesizer drones, bound together by Phew's unmistakable vocals: dour, deep-toned and stripped of identifiable affect.
The album captures the latest transformation in a career that's moved through punk, improv and experimental pop, and seen her work with figures including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Seiichi Yamamoto, Jim O'Rourke and fabled German producer Conny Plank. While her 2010 covers album, "Five Finger Discount," featured a conventional band, in 2013 Phew began to play solo shows using synthesizers and archaic drum machines.