Sophie Jamieson releases her debut EP ‘Where’ this week on Folkroom Records, her songs have a certain raw intricacy to them, a soul bearing quality that leaves nothing hidden. The emotional tension she creates is heightened by little nuances, on ‘Waterloo‘ her drawn out “where we going to” is enough to raise your neck hairs as the rumbling underground train can be heard in the background. The music taps right into those strong vocal qualities with the opening strings on ‘Dinah’ moving the song skywards. Her voice is mesmerising and reminds me very much of German artist Sibylle Baier who recorded in the 1970’s but came to prominence much later on.
The arrangements are sparse and uncomplicated bringing a sense of space to the listener which is heightened by echoing acoustics that heighten the whole intimacy of her songs. The percussion and cello on ‘I Don’t‘ are used to brilliant effect whist the closing ‘Ode to the East’ allows Sophie’s vocals to really float across those sonorous rich cello notes. Ben Walker (electric guitar, bass, programming), Derek Yau (cello) and Liam Hoflay (electric guitar) have done a great job in complimenting Sophie on this EP. She has so much to offer and she deserves a lot more exposure, I hope this EP marks the beginning of something very big for her.
EP Stream
Where is released on Folkroom Records 24th June and can be purchased from Bandcamp here.