LEEDS-based, Scottish native Josephine Sillars has today revealed her new EP ‘Desperate Characters’.
Four years on from her last solo release in 2017, the singer-songwriter has traded in the folksy feel of her early material in favour of a fuller, more expansive sound that takes her songwriting into an entirely new creative dimension.
Featuring six compelling tracks, ‘Desperate Characters’ is inextricably linked to the context in which it was written. Sillars frames the whole EP around samples taken from interviews she conducted over the past year which discuss people’s views on the political landscape and as such, touches down on themes of fear, anxiety, climate change and politics. It’s a conceptual way of writing that works wonderfully with her natural gift for storytelling.
Opening with the pensive, sample-heavy title track, Sillars paints a vivid picture of the anxious world last March with a number of interview extracts. Set against a brooding electronic backdrop that becomes increasingly intense as it reaches its conclusion, the track shifts seamlessly into ‘Measured’; a pointed reflection on fear and self-worth during the pandemic. It’s an effective 1-2 punch that sets the whole EP up nicely and gives us an insight into her expansive new sound.
Her new love for experimentation is unleashed perfectly on ‘Enemy’, a highlight of the collection. Her Celtic, folk-inspired roots are still present and correct but this time she marries them with muscular percussive loops and dynamic vocal layers.
The second half of the EP reverts back to a more traditional singer-songwriter style but still feels progressive and illuminating. Beneath its big vocal melodies, ‘Gone To War’ has an undercurrent of darkness while ‘California’ sees her address the climate emergency with hard-hitting lyrics and a pensive arrangement.
‘Desperate Characters’ not only provides a visceral snapshot of the last 12 months but it also sees Josephine Sillars push the parameters of her sound in genuinely refreshing and exciting ways.
Check it out below.
