Miss Clementine's Spotify Wrapped

Written by: Rosalie Minnitt
Published: Wednesday 11th September 2024

Since making her debut in 2023 with Jane Austen parody Clementine, Rosalie Minnitt has enjoyed sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and at London's Soho Theatre. This week Clementine returns to the Soho Theatre for a third time; the final ever run for this anachronistic Regency caper and cult hit that takes on romance, heartbreak and TikTok.

Music plays a key role in the show, and here Rosalie shares with us a selection of Clementine's Spotify playlist, explaining why each track is part of the show or captures the spirit of it.

Modern Girl - Sleater Kinney

"Anger makes me a modern girl"

This is one of my top tracks of all time. It's not used in the show at all but I think it lies at the heart of what I'm trying to do with Clementine. Across three verses, Carrie Brownstein's modern girl descends from being 'happy' to 'hungry' and then 'angry.' The song is a dissonant Riot Grrrl ode to hope, restlessness, panic, desire, fury and helplessness; to the powderkeg of messy dichotomies that so often come to define girlhood in our mid 20s. At its core, it's about things falling a bit short, life not quite living up to what we thought it would be. But it's also about finding power in a dissonant female fury.

Alien Superstar - Beyoncé

"Forever I'm that girl"

Brash, boastful and bold. This song celebrates a giddy, hyper sort of self-confidence, a real strut of a song. Clementine is the poster child of unearned confidence and I loved the idea of her bursting into the ball with a fully choreographed dance routine. Unfortunately, I can't dance at all so neither can Clementine. But she definitely thinks she can though.

Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey

"I know you will, I know you will, I know you will"

Clementine is a comedy show built on references; to films, songs, people and internet cultures because that's what I was raised on. For all her dizzying controversy, Lana Del Rey's hyper-feminine romanticism continues to have such a hold on me.

This song is both a nostalgic reverie and a haunting meditation on time, love and beauty. It might be a bit basic of me to pick this but I remember listening to this song for the first time when I was 14. I didn't know much about the world, boys or love and I definitely didn't understand this song. But the older I get, and the more heartbreaks I seem to collect, the more I long for that innocence. Now I kind of wish I didn't understand this song.

Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush

Listening to this song is the musical equivalent of running barefoot through a thunderstorm to find a lost love. I can't say I've ever done it myself but if I ever do, this is what I imagine it would feel like.

I think a lot of people my age are still searching for a version of love that's desperate and dramatic and all or nothing because that's what we've been told it should feel like. If I'm not sobbing and running after someone in the rain, then surely it can't be real love. But I think that real love is calm and kind and safe and actually quite boring. And I can't wait.

I Forgive - Toni Jones

"I forgive, I release, I love"

When I first started writing Clementine, I wanted to make a show that was joyful and stupid and silly but that also ended on a slightly more poignant note that celebrates self-acceptance and not making romantic love your true north. Ending a show is always hard, and I didn't want it to be cheesy. This song is one long affirmation and I heard it for the first time on the radio in a community cafe near my house last year. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and lost that day and it felt like the big hug I needed.

The church of self-love is a tricky one, I worry that it pushes a hyper-individualistic dogma and I'm not sure if loving yourself is even possible. Maybe it's more about falling in love with our lives and loving the people around us. You don't need a husband to be happy but don't waste too much time 'self improving.' We're here to live too, so when you look within don't forget to look up at the people around you. I want my show to feel like that hug. I hope it does.

Everything is Romantic - Charli XCX

Even though Brat summer is aggressively over, I also just wanted to include a song from this album. Yes, brat summer was undoubtedly a brilliant marketing campaign, but it stuck for a reason. It was a celebration of a profound female messiness, filthy rebellion, hedonistic youth and, at its heart, fun. I think it reminded us all to live in the moment a bit more. It's less about self-love and more about embracing every part of ourselves - the good as well as those jealous, sharp, darker edges. In an age obsessed with self -improvement, brat seems to be the antidote to all that. Normalising confusion and learning to be ok with where you're at right now - however messy things might seem.

Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths

"Please, please, please let me get what I want."

Where would we be without the King of Ennui - enter the now cancelled Morrissey! As well as being an enduring internet meme, this song perfectly encapsulates Clementine's delusional world view. All you need to do is pray and manifest and visualise the things you want, then they will magically appear! (paid for by her Papa!)

The Smiths are also my dad's favourite band. I grew up listening to these melancholic Manchester boys on long car journeys so I know every album off by heart. He stills loves The Smiths, despite Morrissey.

Glamorous - Fergie

"I won't change"

Every single version of the show I've done has ended with this song. It's pure 2000s nostalgia. This song reminds me of Paris Hilton and playing SingStar with my sister and buying Mizz magazine and Mary-Kate & Ashley movies and putting on too much Groovy Chick lip gloss. A lot of Clementine is about childhood and I wanted to end it on a song that reminded me of mine. If they could afford the rights, this would be the Selling Sunset theme tune which makes it the perfect song.

Listen to Clementine's playlist on Spotify