What’s the last song you listened to?
Snowcone by REI AMI. It came on shuffle while I was in the gym recently, and the complete change in tempo and subject matter halfway through the song really caught me off guard, and I’ve been obsessed with the song since. It’s so playful and energetic for the first half, and then it drops into this pretty, warm, yearning little sonic hug for the second half. It’s like listening to both sides of someone’s mind. Would highly recommend checking it out.
What artist or album has gotten you through lockdown the most?
Probably folklore by Taylor Swift. I am a long-suffering Taylor Swift fan and it was incredibly heartening to see her come out with something that she had created from scratch with no external pressure.
Also sonically it’s so beautiful and easy to listen to, I’ve been playing it a lot. The album for her was escapism, it’s made up of little stories that she crafted herself, and I think listening to it offers a little chance for escape as well. I have always maintained she’s one of the best lyricists of the last decade and seeing that lyrical talent concentrated towards world-painting and storytelling has been so satisfying and enjoyable for me.
My favourite song is probably Illicit Affairs or Invisible String. The album is just pure, uncomplicated, beautiful songs and it arrived at a time where I really needed that, and the added nostalgia of it coming from the musical hero of my teenage years certainly helped.
What’s influencing your music right now?
I think the first lockdown taught me that it’s okay to stop and look around every once and a while. It gave me time for a lot of introspection, and as scary and difficult as that was, it was extremely needed. The sort of internal kindness I needed to allow myself room to breathe and to rest opened a lot of doors in my head, and I started to write about the pressures I put on myself. In the past, my songwriting has primarily dealt with external subject matters, human relationships, and romantic love. I think I’ve gradually started to realise my own self-destructive tendencies in recent months, and in my attempts to dismantle them, I’m also trying to examine them lyrically.
Tell us about your debut album ‘In Between Moments’. What has inspired it?
I came to realise that I have been rushing through life a little bit over the last year or so. I’ve found myself wishing away the time until the next event or substantial moment in my life. I think the first lockdown was an opportunity for me to recognise how unhealthy that was for me. It was the first time in a long time that I found myself with no option other than to enjoy the in-between, now that the in-between was stretching out indefinitely.
Strangely, once I leaned into that, it became much easier. I guess that’s what inspired me to name the album In Between Moments. This is a collection of songs that chronicle some of the hardest and happiest times of my life, but it was ultimately the in-between that allowed me to create them. It’s the peace and solace in between moments where we can reflect and write.
What would you like people to take from listening to the album?
I would like people to take whatever they need from the album. If someone needs it to be gentle music in the background on their train journey, I would love it to be that for them. If someone needs it to offer the song that cheers them up after a breakup, I hope it can be that as well. There are parts of myself in this album that I have hidden for a long time, and it’s a sort of strange comfort to me to be putting it out into the world for people to hear. I hope it can be a strange comfort to them, and that it maybe lifts their mood in these days where it is at times hard to be hopeful.
Eve Belle will release In Between Moments on Friday, October 23rd.
