smudged lipstick II centres on the intimacy of a parent singing to their child. I have chosen the Hungarian folk song Virágoknál ég a világ as the main source of musical inspiration for smudged lipstick II. My dad used to sing it to me all the time when I was growing up and it was the only song that could get me to fall asleep as a baby.

Once when my dad had to go on a work trip, he recorded himself singing it onto a CD so that my mum could play it to me while he was gone. When writing smudged lipstick II and speaking with my parents, we discovered that this recording still exists, so I've used it in the electronics.

conductor - Julius Akira
balloon thrower - Lucian Crosby
paper slip distributor - Ella Laughton Manchester Contemporary Orchestra
​