Playlist: Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas

Local Girl Missing is the new psychological thriller by Claire Douglas, author of The Sisters.

Francesca has spent the last twenty years haunted by the disappearance of her best friend. But when she receives a phone call from Sophie’s brother saying that a body has been found, she knows she can’t keep hiding from what happened. With her own secrets to keep, Francesca doesn’t relish the idea of digging up the past or returning to Oldcliffe. But it is time to go back to where she grew up, and it looks like she isn’t the only one there hiding truths.

Here’s Claire’s playlist of songs inspired by the events in Local Girl Missing – grab your headphones and lose yourself in the story!

Over to Claire:

‘Born Slippy’ by Underworld

This was the song playing on the night Sophie disappears. Frankie remembers jumping up and down to it and seeing Sophie at the edge of the dance floor. When she looks again Sophie has gone. For me, this song perfectly epitomizes the mid nineties. It was huge in 1996/1997 thanks to the film Trainspotting and I have fond memories of dancing to it at clubs very much like The Basement, where Sophie and Frankie go to in the book.

 

‘True Blue’ by Madonna

In the first chapter, after telling her boyfriend Mike that Sophie’s remains have washed up on a beach, Frankie begins thinking of their childhood, remembering how she and Sophie made up dance routines to this song. Madonna was such an iconic figure for girls when I was growing up.

 

‘Rain or Shine’ by Five Star

In the 1997 strand of the story, Sophie bumps into Frankie again after three years apart and remembers how they listened to Five Star in her bedroom in the mid 1980s. This was inspired by personal experience. I loved Five Star fan when I was ten!

 

‘End of a Century’ by Blur

I was a huge Blur fan in the mid-1990s and saw them live three times. Frankie recalls how she and Sophie sat on the old pier, drinking cider and listening to Blur…

 

‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis

…and Oasis. For me these two bands sum up the whole Britpop explosion of the mid-1990s. Who can forget the rivalry between the two bands. It was always Blur for me though!

 

‘Babies’ by Pulp

This is Sophie’s favourite song (and one of mine) and is playing in the club the night she meets Leon for the first time. Jarvis Cocker has such a way with conjuring humdrum, yet slightly seedy, characters within his songs.

 

‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Joy Division

Even though I don’t mention this song in the book, this is the band I imagine Daniel listens to when he’s 23.

 

‘Alive’ by Pearl Jam

Before Britpop there was Grunge, and Frankie and Sophie were into Pearl Jam…

 

‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana

…and Nirvana before they moved onto Blur and Oasis. I also went through a Grunge phrase in 1993 and had a huge poster of Kurt Cobain on my bedroom wall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW0cU-084iM

 

‘Begging You’ by The Stone Roses

Frankie reminisces about dancing to this song with Sophie at The Basement. For her it sums up the hedonistic, carefree times of their youth, dancing with abandonment.

 

‘Lucky You’ by The Lightning Seeds

Leon is a fan of The Lightening Seeds and he has the album Jollification on vinyl – Sophie wryly observes that he’ll only buy vinyl. They listen to this song in his bedroom.