This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

We seem to have entered an age in pop music when female musicians recognize that pouting for the approval of a man may not be the healthiest behavior for young girls to emulate. And they're right, of course. The commercial successes (if not political — sorry, Hillary Clinton supporters) of female empowerment anthems such as Katy Perry's "Roar" or Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" should be seen as a net positive in the roles pop music plays in shaping attitudes about feminism.

What seems to be missing from this trend is a lack of specifics. How does an insecure 13-year-old actually get the courage to roar or fight or empower herself? When a word like "feminism" becomes easier to say to wider audiences, the benefits of exposure sometimes overshadow the details of the practice itself. It becomes a laudable goal with no road map to achieve it.

When Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz released a pop album this month under her new solo project Sad13, the usual focus on feminism and female empowerment inevitably followed.

Sad13's album, "Slugger," indeed looks at the world through the unique eyes of women and girls. Songs emphasizing female friendship over competition ("Hype"), breaking free from toxic relationships ("Tell U What") and the importance of informed consent ("Get a Yes") all run throughout the album. But there's an understated real-world logic to it, a decidedly non-anthemic quality that portrays feminism and equality as indispensable tools for navigating everyday life.

"I think a lot of concepts that just relate to human decency sometimes get lumped in with feminism," Dupuis said in a recent telephone interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. "I wasn't sitting down to say: 'This is my feminist manifesto.' "

Instead, feminism informs Sad13 simply because "I have to live in a world where your gender dictates how much money you make or how you're treated."

The empowerment described in "Slugger" is a collective one. So in "Line Up," when Dupuis, who has already achieved some personal success as a rock musician with Speedy Ortiz, sings about being let into what is still mostly a boys' club, she's not satisfied until everyone else gets in, too.

"I'm only busting out if I break open my cell block / I'm only passing Go if I distribute the wealth," she sings before landing the hook: "They let in every boy, but I'm the only girl in sight."

Those who already know Dupuis from her songwriting and guitar work with Speedy Ortiz will recognize her wit and uncanny ability to twist a melody in just the right way, but Sad13 is decidedly more of a pop effort. Dupuis recorded the album in her house mostly by herself in a marathon session lasting about two weeks.

The benefit — and the drawback — of self-recording is learning to trust yourself, she said.

"You can follow those impulses wherever they take you," she said. "There's no one there to veto that or put you in your place or tell you something's ridiculous. It's very much a matter of trusting your intuitions."

That attitude of self-trust comes out in the songs as well.

"I want a life where I flaunt the facts I like about me / No one tells me off when I'm exactly who I want," she sings in the album closer, "Coming Into Powers."

Home recording was how Dupuis began releasing music before Speedy Ortiz became a full-fledged band, and she wanted to return to it.

"I think part of it is just as a creative exercise and challenge," she said. "I missed getting to do that."

Releasing music on her own also freed Dupuis to try things she wouldn't be able to do with a band, so Sad13 features a lot of synth, electronic beats and hip-hop, including a guest verse from New York-based rapper Sammus.

"It's like a treasure hunt or something," Dupuis said. "I think my main imperative when I'm composing music is I love having lots of little surprises."

She recalls listening to Radiohead and other headphone bands from the early 2000s, wanting to emulate that feeling of discovering a sound, chord change or emotion that doesn't really manifest itself until the 10th or 20th listen. While it was her intention to re-create that experience for others, she didn't think she'd be able to pull it off on herself.

"There's tons of stuff in there that I have no memory of recording," she said. "I guess it worked."

There may be more surprises in store. Dupuis sees Sad13 as a vehicle to let her try on different musical costumes she wouldn't be able to try elsewhere. She says there are a number of musical identities still waiting to get out.

"I'd really like to do a record that's more country," she said. "Certainly I don't ever want to get stuck doing only one kind of music. So, yeah. Maybe a country album." —

Sad13

With Sally Yoo

When • Sunday, Nov. 27, 7 p.m.

Where • Kilby Court, 741 Kilby Court, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $8 advance, $10 day of show; Ticketfly