Following on from rapturous response to her recently unveiled singles, the BBC 6Music playlisted ‘Co-op’ and ‘Time Comes In Roses’, emerging singer and songwriter Bess Atwell has now returned to announce the details behind her highly-anticipated new album ‘Already Always’, her first through Lucy Rose’s label Real Kind Records, and share the beautifully arresting new release ‘All You Can Do‘.
Her new collection looks to bring together the songs and aesthetics she has been channelling for some time. While on the surface some would see it as a break-up record, the album itself is more about the deeper relationships that many of us experience throughout our lives, and how brittle and disconnected they can become over time.
A release that focuses on loss, love, life, and death, Bess Atwell has taken the opportunity behind this album to create something that not only reflects who she is upon us, but also allows us to see ourselves in her.
‘Already Always’ Album Tracklist:1. Co-op2. All You Can Do3. Silver Fir4. Dolly5. Love Is Not Enough6. How Do You Leave7. Time Comes in Roses8. Red Light Heaven9. Olivia, in A Separate Bed10. Nobody Also returning with that rich and vibrant aesthetic she is known for, ‘All You Can Do’ is a wonderfully blissful return for an artist that always manages to find the texture and majesty within everything she creates. Accompanied by the kaleidoscopic new video, she swoons her way through a broad and shimmering array of colourful images, adding a dense and atmospheric layer to an already uplifting piece.
Speaking about the new song, she said, “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; “I’ve gone stale / and I dont think you taste it / well why don’t you taste it.
“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 treat you like a confessional / but I’m no good at fearing God at all.
“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 role reversal and an exploration of reclaiming control; “you’re my sweet puppy / but is man’s best friend on a lead”.
While adding about the new video, “There’s a tonne of domestic imagery throughout the record, and this song is no exception. The video for Co-op was slightly more surreal, so I wanted the next video to be in a more domestic setting. I worked with director Dylan Hayes who came to my parents’ house in Sussex to shoot with his DOP Owain Morgan. The bedroom scene was shot in the attic, where I spent the first lockdown, so 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.”
To support the new album, Bess Atwell has also announced a string of festival and UK tour dates for later in the year including a 15-date UK headline tour in November and December.
Spring / Summer 202127th June – Black Deer Festival25th July – Womad Festival12th Aug – 110 Above Festival11th Sept – Down at the Abbey Festival
UK Tour dates15th Nov – Liverpool, Leaf16th Nov – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach18th Nov – Bristol, Exchange19th Nov – Leeds, Headrow House20th Nov – Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s21st Nov – Glasgow, Broadcast23rd Nov – Newcastle, The Cluny 225th Nov – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds V226th Nov – Manchester, Deaf Institute27th Nov – Nottingham, Bodega30th Nov – Cambridge, Junction 21st Dec – Oxford, The Jericho Tower2nd Dec – London, Oslo3rd Dec – Southampton, Heartbreakers4th Dec – Brighton, Patterns
There is comfort in the familiar. Yet it is precisely when we are most comfortable that we begin to ask questions. Artist Bess Atwell is full of questions: on life, death, love, loss… and how things that at first seem mundane become profound when looked at in a different light. On her sensational album, ‘Already, Always’, Atwell offers one of the most assured records by a British artist in years. Released via Lucy Rose’s Communion imprint Real Kind Records, it focuses heavily on Atwell’s own experiences yet has a universal appeal -demonstrated already by the support from the BBC’s 6music, and millions of streams of Atwell’s earlier, self released, singles. “What I really care about is people listening to this album and saying, ‘God, I feel like I know her,'” the Brighton-based artist explains. “I wanted to illustrate, not just the romance in relationships, but that bit that comes afterwards.”
‘Already Always’ is out September 24th through Real Kind Records.