The artists rich, smooth vocal meanders over melodic guitar as the EP takes the listener on a journey rife with water imagery, from being engulfed, to eventually coming up for air. Opener ‘Swimming Pool’, explores female empowerment through being open about weaknesses.
‘Grace’ is the more restrained, intimate successor, fundamentally a love song about accepting someone at their worst, whilst ‘Cherry Baby’ projects darker, rocky atmospheres and talks of human sell-by dates. Spending longer between projects has allowed the talented songwriter to develop a more refined, assured sound, incorporating new indie-rock influences that ultimately enabled the artist to fall back in love with folk music. Taking inspiration from the likes of The National, Fleet Foxes, Lucy Dacus and Soccer Mommy, to name just a few, the new music attempts to depict the friction between fantastical, escapist imagery and the realities of relationships.
Bess said about the EP “’Big Blue’ explores conflicting themes on identity, romanticism and reality. I have an amazing full-time band now who worked on these songs with me outside of the studio and so, when the time came to record, we just went into the studio and essentially played the songs”.
She continued to talk about the lead single harvested “I wrote Harvested about a very complicated friendship; Two people whose overwhelming similarities could comfort and cripple the other in equal measure.”
Singles from the EP have been playlisted by BBC Radio 6 Music and live performances championed by the likes of The Guardian and The Independent paved the way for live sessions on the Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley’s shows.
Links
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