- 2024-04-30
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MUSIC
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ Bess Atwell Premieres New Song “Something Now” on BBC Radio 6
Brighton-based singer-songwriter Bess Atwell premiered a new song “Something Now” on BBC Radio 6 Music with Steve Lamacq.
The song is the fifth and the final promotional single from her upcoming album “Light Sleeper”, which is set to be released on May 24, 2024.
The track was written by Bess Hildick-Smith and David Pentecost. Produced by Aaron Dessner.
The accompanying music video was directed by Bess Atwell herself.
Bess Atwel said of the song, “This track is a celebration of feeling, written in a moment of empowerment when I was tapering off antidepressants. I'm not anti-medication, but I realized I'd become frightened of my feelings and it signaled a change in me that I was prepared to feel a broader spectrum of emotion.”- She continued, “Opening myself up to emotional discomfort meant confronting beliefs I had developed to protect myself from it. At some point, probably at a very young age, I had decided that any suffering myself and my family had been through could be offset by becoming successful in my career. I could settle the score by turning pain into something beautiful and lucrative. 'Something Now' challenges the childlike idealism of this belief, and explores how it was just another form of avoidance and unwillingness to feel. It champions the idea that pain doesn't take away from joy, if anything it adds to it.”
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The new album is comprises a 10-track, produced by American rock band The National's Aaron Dessner.
She recorded the album at Long Pond Studio in New York.
Bess Atwell said of the album, “I was realising that somewhere along the line I had become very afraid of feeling. The record is about facing this realisation and finding the bravery to challenge it. It's still hard for me to believe that I got to make this record with one of my heroes, but somehow, I got that lucky. Aaron Dessner posted about one of my songs on Instagram at the beginning of 2022.”
She continued, “We got chatting on there and before I knew it, we'd made plans to meet up at All Points East and were discussing making a record together. He told me that 'Light Sleeper' is the first album he's worked on in several years that he didn't write, which is a huge honour. My approach on 'Light Sleeper' was to give up concern with what's cool and to reconnect with why I make the things I make. I was afraid to really sing on my previous record, having come to believe it wasnt cool or would draw attention to the fact that I am indeed an emotional woman and therefore not to be taken as seriously.”
She added, “This time, I wanted to really sing, I wanted to discuss my fears and feelings, I wanted to connect, and I wanted to perform like I meant it, because I do. After all, how can I write an album about the willingness to feel and be too afraid to sing like I mean it?”
Photo by David Pentecost - source : BBC Radio 6
