Our Song of the Day comes from Lila Tristram, whose new single ‘Overtake’ is released today. For anyone new to Lila’s music, this single is a striking introduction as she returns to her stripped-back roots. Opening to fingerpicked guitar, the emotional weight of her voice is quite spellbinding, emphasised by little sonic shifts such as Rose Ford’s gentle melodic clarinet, that lightens the moment during the confessional line: “I know I can be so difficult sometimes/But I’m just trying to say I love you”, before the setting tips slightly with the music descending to the line “You sink down/And I will overtake to catch you/Before the ground/Claims both of us”. There’s genuine care gone into crafting each line, and her lyrics really hit home because of this.
Tristram isn’t afraid of sharing her inner thoughts, but it’s how she presents them that makes them so memorable. There’s a melancholic shimmer to her delivery that does recall some of the classic contemporary folk singers of the past, and she wholeheartedly deserves those comparisons to Drake and Mitchell.
Lila shared this with us about the Overtake:
“When I started out as a musician, I considered myself to be a folk artist. Living in London, working behind the bar at the iconic Green Note, I felt like my home was in the UK’s folk circles. I’ve always loved listening to the classic songwriters of the folk revival; Joni, Neil Young, John Martyn, Nick Drake – and my first few records were really an ode to them. Then more recently I started working with a band and my sound has become much more expansive and closer to rock than to folk. I love exploring that big, dark, loud energy but I’ve still got this quiet place somewhere inside me which is pulled to hiding away with an acoustic guitar and discovering the mysteries of my mind and heart. And that’s why Overtake has such a special place for me. Through this song I’m returning to the beautiful, introverted, thoughtful, sacred, quiet place that all confessional singer songwriters cherish and know so well.”
Overtake is available on all major streaming platforms now.
Find out more here: https://www.lilatristram.co.uk/ | Bandcamp
