LISTEN: Bess Atwell - 'Fan Favourite'

Ooft. My fave musical gals are very much smashing it at the moment - I'm devouring The Staves new record on a loop, we're just over a week away from a new Maggie Rogers record (remain calm) and there's new Lucy Rose on the way - what a time!!! I can't get enough of this either - with an Aaron Dessner produced record on the horizon, Bess Atwell recently shared new single Fan Favourite and it is exactly that. Sublime.

Speaking about the track, Bess said: "I wrote Fan Favourite after watching some behind the scenes footage from a popular TV show. Not even a die-hard fan of the show myself - I can't remember what it was now - I found myself emotional watching the cast's wrap party. I felt jealous of the sense of community and opportunity to reflect on shared experiences and history. I pictured my own family's "wrap party" and what that would look like. The sadness, humour, disappointment and joy that would come with acknowledging the huge shared experience we've had in this life. The song also touches on the passing of time, a sense of dissociation, and feeling as though you've missed out on life despite still living it.

Fan Favourite is an attempt at a self-wake-up call so I wanted the production to sparkle, breathe and feel alive, the instrumentation a reminder that life is indeed still there to be lived."

Light Sleeper is due on May 24th via Real Kind Records - pre-order the album here.

Follow Bess Atwell - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

WATCH: VC Pines - 'SUPERMAN'

(Hi!) I feel like I'm always writing something, apologising for barely writing anything, and then disappearing again before repeating the cycle. Back again! A lot is happening in my brain at the moment but as always music is a comfort, and while I don't have as much time to share it here as I'd like, I'm still listening! Adoring the new Willie J Healey album Bunny at the moment and v v much looking forward to the release of this one. SUPERMAN is the latest track from VC Pines, who shares his debut album MRI on 8th September. I think it must have been four years since I started listening to Jack's music - following various singles and EPs, and I'm excited to see this album find its way into the world. He's a special artist! 

On the new track, VC Pines shares: "'SUPERMAN' is about biting off more than you can chew and self sabotage. There are people in your life who mean more to you than life itself, but you let things get in the way, and you lose sight of what's important, until it's too late... It's also very easy to promise more to those you love, than you can deliver. So you live in this constant state of feeling like you've let everyone down, which is a dark dark place.

"I wrote this song with two mates who I've known for years. They recently started renting a studio in Dalston, but only have it at night times, so this was written and produced at around 3am under Stoke Newington high street.

"I've recently started working on my FOMO - Since writing this, I realised that I was saying yes to EVERYTHING and then being exhausted for, or missing the things that really mattered. I think that's what happens when I write, a lot of it is my subconscious, and I only realise how I've been feeling until the song is finished."

MRI is due for release on 8th September - pre-save the album here.

Follow VC Pines - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: néomí - 'i could never leave'

With her second EP on the way, néomí (AKA Surinamese/Dutch folk-pop singer-songwriter Neomi Speelman) recently shared new track i could never leave. As always, it's a stunner. Pure vocal magic with harmonies to die for. Following last year's debut EP before, new EP after is due on 14th April and from what I've heard so far, it'll be all sorts of gorgeous.

On the track, Neomi shares: "'I could never leave' is a track that lies very close to my heart. I think this song comes closest to my feelings than any other at this point. Every time I hear it or play it, it brings me back to this one love I had. I couldn't go, I couldn't move, I wanted to but also didn't want to. It's hard to describe but those who know this feeling know what I mean. It's about a relationship shifting, like a big force, like stars falling in the sky. Self-development, acceptance but also grief at the same time. 

I really enjoyed the process of creating this song as well, together with my friend Will. It was very natural and went so quickly because the story was just so clear and came flowing out of me. It didn't need much time or thinking. It felt raw and honest, and I hope it comes across that way because it's true."

néomí is currently on tour supporting SYML across Europe, and supports label mate Jonathan Jeremiah across the EU in April. 

Follow néomí - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: néomí - 'red balloon'

Fancy some ethereal beauty for your Thursday morning? I've got you. The new track from néomí is a stunner. Following up the before EP from earlier this year, she's back with red balloon and I'm still very much in love - it's a joy to see the evolution of Neomi's sound across singles. 

On the track, she shares: "red balloon was written in the winter of 21. I'd moved into a new home together with my boyfriend and we were going through a tough time. He suggested we write a song together so we went to the piano, sat down having not discussed a lot, and just let the music speak. Little did we know we were writing a break-up song as we parted a couple of months later. Maybe we did know, but we were just very content at that moment creating a song together. I still love that man very much, but love is a very complicated thing as you might understand. The song wasn't finished so months later I decided to finish it up with a good friend of mine. I gave it a twist, as my heart literally burst like a red balloon at that time. Now I just hope that one day I'll be lifted like a beautiful red balloon that didn't rip open."

"The song is about knowing you love someone very much, knowing you want to be with someone still, knowing it doesn't work out the way you want to, knowing that it might be over soon, trying to hold on, trying to let go, losing yourself and for that reason hoping that one day you can cope with the fact you let that one person go and feel gracious again without them."

Follow néomí - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

EP NEWS: Bess Atwell - 'Already, Rearranged'

A quick post today as I'm off to London soon for a very exciting book-related event. I'm usually not one for remixes, as a rule. Aside from some artists, they're normally just not for me. I gave this one the benefit of the doubt though - it's Bess Atwell, of course I had to. She's enlisted a string of musical friends to remix tracks from her record Already, Always and the tracks are emerging as the Already, Rearranged EP (Sept 16th). The first track sees Igor Haefeli (Daughter) rework Time Comes In Roses and I have to say, I'm vibing with it. Elsewhere on the EP we find Billie Marten, Liz Lawrence and Chartreuse. Dreamy. 

Bess writes: "When we decided to do a remix EP I never imagined we'd create something I'm so proud of and excited to share. I'm a fan of every artist involved in this project and I wanted them to have total creative freedom and to showcase their own perspectives on the songs. Considering I gave them no brief at all, I'm all the more proud of what we created and the tracks as a cohesive body of work."

"I love remixes that keep roughly the same song structure but still manage to reinvent it. Igor did an amazing job of re-contextualising this song, gifting me the ability to hear it as if for the first time, from the outside. I absolutely adore this remix and was so excited when I first heard it." 

Bess Atwell · Time Comes in Roses (Igor Haefeli Re-edit) [feat. Daughter]

On the process of remixing the track, Igor shares: "When I first heard 'Time Comes In Roses', it instantly felt like an honest and vulnerable song. The lyrics seemed as if they'd been written without too much judgement, beautifully composed yet raw. My original idea was to splinter different parts of Bess's vocal to push the stream of consciousness feel even further, but I just kept coming back to the song's original structure, back to how it flowed naturally. The colour really tilted for me once I started emphasising and manipulating some of the darker parts of the track. I think that's what I really connected with: the idea that we all have different faces, a few of which we might not be proud of but are, nevertheless inherent to ourselves." 

Follow Bess Atwell - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

WATCH: Memorial - 'Honest'

I went to a gig! I had a last minute day out in London on Thursday to catch Memorial at House of St Barnabas, a members' club in the heart of Soho with a chapel hidden away in it, and it was such a delight. I've been enjoying their record for the past couple of months, and it was a treat to see them performing the tracks from it - as well as a couple of covers, and even a couple of brilliant new tracks - with a full band, including Jools Owen (Bear's Den) and Ally Mackay (Marthagunn). 

As if the Memorial guys weren't enough, they had Elanor Moss and Sunflower Thieves opening for them - three artists that I love and have supported through the blog. A bit of a dreamy evening all round, and in a stunning space too. I'd not realised how much I missed getting to introduce myself to artists and other people at shows as the person behind this blog (especially when they say nice things about it in return!) and getting to tell artists I love how brilliant they are in person, too.

Since the show, I've been in a little bit of a Memorial bubble, so when I was thinking about what to post next, it had to be their latest single and video. Honest happens to be one of my favourites from their self titled record, too. 

Speaking on the video, the pair shared: "we had an incredible time filming this video. We had the wonderful privilege of using a boathouse and surrounding grounds in The Lingholm Estate with massive thanks to Joe and Jenny (the owners) for letting us stay the night! The video centres around the main character (Jeremy Zinunu) who has a comfortable life, but suffers from feeling numb and lost, we act as light relief, but eventually he needs to find the strength in himself to not need us as a distraction. 

Jeremy and our amazing director Gregg Houston both braved the freezing cold lake for some of those beautiful shots, we can't be thankful enough for that and everything else they and the team managed to achieve. It was essentially a holiday for us, boating on the lake, curry outside with a nice fire and staying in a beautiful holiday home."

Follow Memorial - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: néomí - 'not good enough'

How about some more soul soothing from néomí for your Thursday morning? Her music has been a delight to discover over the past few months, through singles teasing the release of her before EP, due in almost exactly a month's time on 24th June. not good enough is the latest taster from the EP, and another delightful listen. There's something in Neomi's vocal delivery and the production of the tracks that makes them feel so utterly intimate, as if we're not listening to music at all, but in the room with her, in conversation. 

"This song is about losing the love you have for yourself. Sometimes the world can bring a lot of insecurities, along with opinions from people about you that you didn't even ask for. It actually is a reminder for myself and to anyone that listens that feeling "not good enough" doesn't mean it is the truth. It is a "I don't care" message for those who said you are "not good enough" to fit in." 

Follow néomí - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

WATCH: Bear's Den - 'Blue Hours'

Happy Thursday! I might have woken up to snow (say what?) and it might be a little bit miserable outside, but internally I'm reeling from a couple of overwhelmingly exciting album announcements in the past 24 hours. Yesterday, Maggie Rogers shared a trailer for Surrender (due 29th July) and Rae Morris seems to have just announced Rachel@Fairyland (due 8th July) - they released my favourite records of 2019 and 2018 so this is BIG news and I am all sorts of ready for new music from both. 

First, though, another record I'm eagerly awaiting this year is Blue Hours from Bear's Den, due for release via Communion Records on 13th May. I *might* be in the very lucky position to have already heard the record (ahhh!) and it is (of course) beautiful, but you all knew that! While you've got a few weeks to wait to hear the rest of it (sorry) you can wrap your ears around the title track now - which I think is actually one of my favourites from the record at the moment! It'll certainly go down a treat live - they're touring Europe and the UK across April and May, and North America later this year (dates & tickets here.) 

Blue Hours arrives with a video created by illustrator and animator Ryan Anderson here... 

Talking about the new track, Davie shares: "Fundamentally Blue Hours is a song about communicating with someone that's hard to reach. It's this idea of trying to have a conversation with someone through one-way glass, where they can't even see you and there's a real disconnect with how you're communicating. On one level, it's also an internal thing, where you're trying to get through to yourself. I think the act of writing songs, or even trying to write anything, is the act of trying to communicate, so I think there's something in that which is interesting." 

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LISTEN: néomí - 'eyes filled with sky'

A song to brighten up any of those Monday morning blues you might be feeling... following recent release if i wasn't made for love, néomí is back with eyes filled with sky. It is, again, a wonder. Like a soft hug wrapped up in a song. The tracks are both taken from the before EP, set for release in June. 

Talking about the new track, néomí shares that it "felt really emotional to me for a long time. Sometimes you can love someone so deeply that you forget what's best for you. They might end up telling you what they think you want and need, and you might end up believing everything they say. Still the love is so deep, you don't want them to leave and neither can you leave yourself. I hope the song feels dreamy and takes you to places where only eyes are filled with skies. Creating this song was really therapeutic to me. Now, after some time, when I listen to it, I find comfort in the heaviness and I just float away into my thoughts."

Follow néomí - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: néomí - 'if i wasn't made for love'

A dream of a debut for you today - I think this one is a little slice of musical perfection. if i wasn't made for love is the first release from néomí (aka Surinamese/Dutch folk-pop singer-songwriter Neomi Speelman). Neomi cites Bon Iver, Bob Dylan and Ben Howard as her main influences, referring to their music as art and poetry - "that's something I also really try to do; make little poems instead of songs." It's a solid trio to look up to, and Neomi's debut has some of the angelic harmonies of The Staves and First Aid Kid. For a debut, this is an all round gem. While the pandemic slowed things down for Neomi, she has signed to [PIAS] and has a selection of songs ready to share - I for one am certainly ready for more!

On the new track she shares: "'if i wasn't made for love' was written in a time where I doubted love in the most possible way ever. And let's be honest, love is the most stupid thing in the world. Think about it: you want someone, you fall in love, you love each other, you hate each other, it hurts, you break up, and you keep doing that because every time you think once more 'this is the one'. With 'if i wasn't made for love', I sing about the beauty and mystery of life. And what love brings to me, and I think also to others. The idea is: if life were simple, love would be simple as well. But in the end, it's wonderful that love is complicated. I'd rather be 'not made for love' than understand it." 

Follow néomí - Facebook | Instagram.

ALBUM NEWS: Bear's Den - 'Blue Hours'

Wait wait wait... you're telling me I haven't already written about the new Bear's Den track and album news?! What now? If you've been following the blog for a while it's hard to escape how much I love these guys, and I once again might have had a sneaky early listen of this one... best perk. Many listens later and I confirmed what I could've guessed - they're back, they're brilliant, and I love them to bits. 

Spiders is taken from new album Blue Hours (!!!) which is due on May 13th via the lovely folk at Communion Records. 

Having both struggled with their own mental health in recent years and being avid supporters of the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) the album finds mental health as it's over-riding theme. Davie explains "it probably speaks to our struggles and hopefully many other people's too. Men are not very good at talking. We're not really taught how to - men have no idea how to talk about this stuff, certainly to each other." The album's title describes "a kind of imaginary space you get into at night, a place where you process difficult things or where you try to figure everything out." 

I'll no doubt be rambling plenty more about the record until (and after..) the release in May, so for now, here's the new track: 

Bears Den · Spiders

On the track, Davie shares: "I started writing Spiders around the time we left London. In my head, I thought moving would solve lots of problems, like everything will be better. Spiders is a song dealing with the fact that this absolutely wasn't the case. I had this vision in my head that I'd be at one with nature, that I'd be calmer - but all the things that were rattling around in my brain before were still there after the move. The song is about the fact you can't run away from the things that are bothering you." 

"While making the record we wanted to get across a kind of simmering intensity with the song and the idea of someone trying to keep their shit together while wrestling with these darker thoughts and feelings. We wanted to get across a sense of bravery & triumph in saying, "sometimes I can't pull myself out" of these difficult situations. To celebrate the difficult moments because we all have them. They are a universally shared experience even if it feels sometimes like they're not and you're the only one who feels them." 

Follow Bear's Den - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: Tara Nome Doyle - 'Caterpillar'

Anybody else already a little (or a lot) overwhelmed by just how much brilliant new music has already been released this year? It often feels like a scramble to keep up with everything while trying to remember to take time to enjoy it, let alone finding time to discover new artists. A track I am very much enjoying at the moment is Caterpillar from Tara Nome Doyle. This one, I feel, almost demands that you stop and listen - building suspense with its pulsating rhythm. Hypnotic. It is as brilliant as previous two offerings Snail I and Crow - I can't wait for her record Værmin which is releasing on the 28th. 

On the track, Tara shares: "Sometimes it seems to me as if my depression is actively trying to lull me into a false sense of comfort in times of perceived hopelessness. I wanted to explore my relationship with this state that is at once harrowing and oddly tempting, so I wrote Caterpillar from the perspective of personified depression."

Follow Tara Nome Doyle - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

WATCH: Bess Atwell - 'How Do You Leave' (Live)

Busy busy times... working in retail over Christmas doesn't leave much time (or energy) for writing posts, but I wanted to share something that I've been loving lately. I caught Bess Atwell live in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago and it was genuinely so stunning. She's just shared a live video of How Do You Leave (taken from the album Already, Always) with guitarist Chris Matthewson. I'm a little bit in love. Enjoy...

On the video, Bess shares: "I could lie and say that it was an intentional decision to showcase this song stripped back, but the reality is we were in lockdown and couldn't rehearse with a band. Turns out, I think I'm more proud of this duo version that I would have been if we'd performed with a band. It's empowering to be able to play band-produced songs in their original form, the form in which I wrote them. Lyrically, the song is really quite dark, and I think this is actually emphasised more in an intimate performance." 

Follow Bess Atwell - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: Tara Nome Doyle - 'Crow'

"Gave your heart up to the nightingale, and so begins another star-crossed lovers tale... " 

It's no secret that I've become a bit (a lot) of a bird nerd this year, so it was probably only a matter of time before it started seeping onto the blog. Consider me instantly sold on a track called Crow, the latest to be taken from Værmin, the upcoming second record from 24 year-old Tara Nome Doyle. She's an artist with Norwegian-Irish roots and a new name for me, but I'm delving into her back catalogue as I write this and very much liking what I'm hearing... 

Following recent single Snail I, the crow takes its place among a line-up of leeches, worms, spiders and moths - each track on the record shares its name with a so called 'pest', with the hope of in fact celebrating their beauty and questioning our relationship towards them (and, in doing so, exploring our relationship with one another...) Storytelling is clearly a large part of Tara's music, and here we see it through the Romeo and Juliet-esque narrative that the crow finds itself within. Each aspect of the track, sonically and lyrically, combines to celebrate the many sides of the undesirable creature. It's gorgeous and atmospheric, and I can't wait to listen to the new record (and to carry on that back-catalogue deep dive...) 

On the track, Tara shares: "Crow tells the tragic love story of an opposing couple. The 'shadow' (referring to the theories of C.G. Jung) feels harassed, while the 'persona', unsuspecting, rises into naive romantic fantasies. There are many references in the lyrics to Shakespeare's Rome and Juliet to describe this doomed dynamic." 

Follow Tara Nome Doyle - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: Bear's Den - 'All That You Are'

New Bear's Den day. It's new Bear's Den day! In a pretty grand blog perk, I might have heard this last week... as a huge fan of the band, it was pretty dreamy to stumble across the press release! All That You Are is their first track since last year's Christmas, Hopefully EP (a stunner) and announces their return from a hiatus of much of this year, opening the door to new music (*frantically crosses fingers*) - and I love it. Vintage Bear's Den, you might say.

On the origins of the track, the band's Andrew Davie shares: "'All That You Are' is a song that was born on Bear's Den's first ever tour - The Austin To Boston tour way back in 2012. It's been a soundcheck jam for so long and feels like an intrinsic part of what Bear's Den stands for as a band even if it's been unreleased for so long." 

"It's a song fundamentally about hoping for happiness for someone else even if you can't be the one that makes them happy. It's also about not being ashamed about looking for that same happiness for yourself."

"In a way it feels like a mission statement of the band to reconnect with this song from way back when and to perform it unashamedly with a bold and beautiful string arrangement from Sally Herbert and some beautiful performance from some friends of ours both old and new. The opportunity to work with Sally Herbert was a real dream of ours, together with the fantastic Matt Douglas on Clarinets/Saxophone and Paul Frith on horns. We hope you enjoy it."

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LISTEN: VC Pines - 'Be Honest'

Did I feel a little bit jammy having a stream of this one over a week before it was released? Yep. Love me some VC Pines. Be Honest is the first track to be released following his Concrete EP back in May. The track sees him exploding from the confines and pressures of the last year with a new direction but that gorgeous vocal and soulful sound that we've all come to love... you'll want to wrap your ears round this one pronto. 

On the new track, he shares: "Be Honest is a culmination of things, it was written towards the end of 2020 - the year of fuckery. So the beginning has this distrust and wariness I think we all had at the time. I wanted to convey my own mental health struggles and of those around me due to these strange, uncertain and lonely times. The tune explodes into this 'no fucks given' feeling that boils and spills over into a sense of paranoia." 

"I'd definitely been burning the candle at both ends when this song formed, so I think it's a small yelp for help but at the same time, encompasses the nervousness of the youth of this country. Working on this with Tobie Tripp was dreamy, we really focused on every layer, from BVs to brass to flute and then he sprinkled his magic string playing on top. It has this meatiness to it, but because each layer is so in and out, it has this child-like 'dares' quality to it which I love." 

VC Pines · Be Honest

On the evolution of his sound, he adds "I've definitely taken a more alternative direction, focusing more on contemporary and unique sounds and pairing them with soulful vocals. I love working with huge contrasts, so for me, using sounds as imagery as a way to paint a modern picture, paired with the occasional 'classic' instrument such as trombone or rusty xylophones, and a classic soul voice is a perfect juxtaposition."

VC Pines has announced a UK tour for February and March, starting in Dublin at Whelans on 24th Feb and taking in Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Brighton and finishing up at London's Jazz Cafe on 9th March. Full dates and ticket info here.

Follow VC Pines - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

WATCH: Bess Atwell - 'Nobody' (Live)

I've been a little quiet here... I had some awful news last week and haven't really had the mental space or time to sit and write blog posts. Grief is intense. Dipping my toes into the water and I'm ~back~ slightly (if temporarily) to share a video that brought me some real comfort this week. Bess Atwell shares her new record Already, Always on September 24th via Real Kind Records - I had a lil blog perk yesterday and listened to the record early... it's a stunner, just as I expected. Last week, Bess shared a live performance video for Nobody, directed by James Hough and featuring Marcus Hamblett and Jools Owen on horns. 

Speaking on the video, Bess shares "this is one of my favourite tracks on the record so I wanted to highlight it by doing something that felt a bit more special. I've always wanted to perform with a brass section so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. The video was done by the brilliant James Hough. It's rare to find someone capable of capturing high quality audio and visual all on their own so I felt very lucky to get to work with him on this. It's important to me that the whole record is connected through the same visual world so we filmed in the garden that the artwork for 'Times Comes in Roses' was shot - even using the same chair that's on that cover." 

Follow Bess Atwell - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: girlhouse - 'happy now'

Delighting in new girlhouse lately... new track happy now follows up the does-what-it-says-on-the-tin self-titled offering the girlhouse ep, released a few months back. (I was about to type that it was a few weeks ago and now I'm alarmed at the swift passing of time of late... uh oh.) While the EP served as an introduction to girlhouse (AKA Lauren Luiz) and her musical world, happy now sees her building on the momentum of the EP, and honing her style. It's passionate and unapologetically feisty ("are you fucking happy now?!") and I'm a little in love with it, and excited to hear what she releases next.

On the track, Lauren writes: "'Happy now' started as an angry poem towards someone in my life that was really emotionally challenging to me, but as we started producing it and I started looking at the lyrics from a different perspective, I realized I was projecting everything I hated about myself towards this other person. Happy now is my heart, gladiator screaming "are you not entertained?" to my body after doing all the things and following all the people that should in theory make me happy but in the end left me feeling empty." 

girlhouse · happy now

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LISTEN: Bess Atwell - 'Nobody'

You all know how much I'm adoring the new music from Bess Atwell by now, right?! Her new record Always, Always is due via Real Kind Records on September 24th, and she's just released another taster of it, in the shape of Nobody. For the most part marrying Bess's vocals with just a Spanish guitar, it's a delicate and minimal track to close the record, reminiscent of Real Kind founder Lucy Rose or Laura Marling in places. Strong, emotive and reaaaaally lovely. Safe to assume that you'll need to make space on your album of the year lists for this one, I reckon... 

On the track, Bess shares: "I wrote this song very quickly which is probably why it's one of my favourites. Writing can sometimes feel laboured and emotionally draining but this felt so easy and cathartic, sort of like it just fell out. It encapsulates a specific type of loneliness, a loneliness that I think I had probably been getting closer to conveying with every song on the record, but that finally felt solidified in this one which is why I decided to close the album with it." 

"Often, the harder you try to figure yourself out, the further you get from knowing yourself. Without knowing yourself it can feel impossible to know and love other people. I was desperate for answers about where and who I was meant to be. Nobody focused on a specific relationship, but I hope it taps into something more universal - the feeling of lacking a sense of belonging. 

Something about the simple Spanish guitar part reminded me of a little of 'Orange' by Big Thief which inspired me to keep the production minimal. We recorded drums but decided to take them off, and left mostly just a subtle electronic soundscape that I had put on the demo - synth pads and bass. I wanted something a little more special for this song, so we asked the wonderful Marcus Hamblett to play some brass towards the end."

Follow Bess Atwell - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

ALBUM NEWS: Bess Atwell - 'Already, Always'

I am so so soooooo excited by this - album news from the inimitable talent that is Bess Atwell. She's following up recent singles Co-op and Time Comes In Roses (both complete tunes) with All You Can Do and news of her record Already, Always - due for release via Real Kind Records on September 24th. With records from Public Service Broadcasting, MarthaGunn and Liz Lawrence too, September is shaping up to be a pretty special month for new music. 

More on the record later - but for now, the new single is a complete gem. On the track, Bess shares: "You can only live in turmoil and guilt for so long. This song was a rare moment of relative ruthlessness. A moment to breathe and stop apologising for the way I felt, and to try out blaming the other person. However, even in an instance of liberation, I didn't want to shy away from the fact that, humanly, a longing for meaning and guidance still nagged at me. I had spent a long time feeling powerless, as if I were my partner's pet. I spent the best part of a year living in his house, eating the food he cooked, being looked after by him. This song is a daydream of a role reversal and an exploration of reclaiming control."

Wishing to create a video reflecting the mundane in a surreal way, Bess enlisted director Dylan Hayes and his DOP Owain Morgan, who filmed with her at her parents' house in Sussex, where she spent the first lockdown. On the experience, Bess shares: "it was fun to see it looking quite so dreamy on film. The idea was similar to that for the Co-op video, the concept being 'the domestic meets the surreal' but executed differently. We wanted to create mundane scenes, but amp them up to a point of surrealism (chopping a ridiculous amount of apples / sitting at a desk with unnecessarily tall stacks of books). I wanted the video to feel weighed down by domiciliary tasks, claustrophobic even. I’m the only person in the video which makes it feel extra lonely when contrasted with the fact I’m preparing so much food.

“I was lucky enough to be reached out to by Bvlgari who kitted us out with wardrobe accessories. It got to a point where I was just having fun playing dress-up which worked to make the video a little tongue-in-cheek – I’m pictured outside, wind blowing in my hair, wearing a black trench coat and sunglasses, almost parodying what a music video might look like.”

Pre-order & pre-save the new record here - it's due September 24th. 

Follow Bess Atwell - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.