'Planet Heaven' is a beautifully crafted physical release that reflects the intimacy and detail of the music within. Though recorded DIY across home studios using a modest setup, the album was professionally mixed to ensure a rich, immersive listening experience that captures every nuance — from the warmth of analogue instrumentation to the soft rustle of field recordings.

Tuplin’s fifth album sees a shift toward deeply personal songwriting, moving away from character-driven narratives and focusing on the ephemeral nature of life and the quiet wonder of our planet. Framed by his signature fascination with space and philosophy, 'Planet Heaven' is both a love letter to Earth and a meditation on human fragility. Contributions from a circle of collaborators — including Kerry Devine (The Baby Seals), Dana Gavanski, and Adrian Crowley — add texture and depth to an already expansive soundscape.

Combining poetic lyricism with ambient field recordings and psychedelic flourishes, this is Tuplin’s most emotionally resonant work to date — honest, unvarnished, and full of heart.

TRACK LISTING

1. Old House & The Waves
2. Passing Through The Western Lagoon
3. Late To The Party
4. Pigeon Song Feat. Kerry Devine
5. Angelsad Feat. Heka
6. Black Out {interlude}
7. Transformer Feat. Dominic Silvani
8. The Planets Temporary
9. Stranger In The Garden Feat. Dana Gavanski
10. Moon Song
11. A Cosmic Joke Feat. Adrian Crowley

Scottish-born, London-based artist Neev follows up her acclaimed debut with 'How Things Tie in Knots', a stunning meditation on duality, tension, and self-discovery. Exploring the contrast between heritage and individuality, tradition and progression, the album showcases Neev’s evocative storytelling and expanding sonic world. Tracks like 'Stubborn Heads' delve into family ties and personal independence, capturing the moment when resistance gives way to acceptance.

Recorded with an all-female production team and supported by Arts Council England, this release is a testament to collaboration and creative freedom. Pressed on heavyweight 180GSM purple vinyl and featuring a printed lyric insert, this edition is a must-have for collectors and fans of richly textured, deeply personal songwriting.

TRACK LISTING

1. Dianne
2. I Put It In A Frame
3. Stubborn Heads
4. He Built Himself
5. Keep Low
6. There's Two
7. My Own Back
8. An Unspeakable Thing
9. A Sad Tightrope
10. Two Equals

Trapped Animal records is proud to announce the release of Despite Yourself Deluxe from 90’s legends Headswim, which has never been available on vinyl before. For the first time, Headswim’s iconic second album is available on double gatefold vinyl, featuring 7 bonus tracks, including an unreleased version of their hit 'Tourniquet'! Lovingly released on double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve and 6 Panel CD digipack, this deluxe re-issue features seven bonus tracks including previously un-released tracks, including a previously unheard version of their biggest hit, Tourniquet featuring a string orchestra recorded at Abbey Road Studios! The bonus material was collated by scouring through Sony's DAT tape archives, in this process the band and label found some wonderful lost recordings. The record will be available on either limited edition blue or back 180 gram vinyl.

Despite Yourself, featuring the singles "Tourniquet" and "Better Made”, was Headswim’s sophomore album and documents the development of the band maturing as songwriters. “We were aiming for longevity and believed we had written a collection of songs honestly expressing who we were, where we’d been and where we wanted to go. The album was a declaration of intent, an expression of our lived experience, a light in the dark.” Originally released on 2nd September 1997 Despite Yourself reached 24 in the UK charts and would see the band tour the USA and Europe, make “several TV appearances (including Top of The Pops), film a couple of glossy music videos and get some mainstream media attention. We’d been given a chance and we’d grasped it with both hands.”

TRACK LISTING

Tourniquet
Hype
Years On Me
Clinging To The Wreckage
Better Made
Wishing I Was Naïve
Old Angel Midnight
Holy Ghost
Burnt Out Shell Of Bliss
Devil In My Palm
Moving On
Brother
Black Car (Bonus Track)
Last Subway Coma (Bonus Track)
Recovery Position (Bonus Track)
The Seed (Bonus Track)
Plagued (Bonus Track)
Tourniquet With Strings

Cormorant Tree Oh often gets labelled as folk horror and whilst there are still spooky elements, this album veers into new territory. With heavy use of drones and new instrumentation. Music tends to come out of CTO weirdly regardless of her intentions, so her innate oddness still shines through.. and this album embodies that oddness and beauty.

First single, 'Terror Of The Countryside', opens with a frivolous sounding catchy riff, until the dark drones of Terror drop in on the listener like a roar from a John Carpenter movie. The song moves with a dark, ominous groove that has become CTO’s trademark. Something about this new recording shows a maturity and confidence that has always been present in her previous work… but owns the tape it is pressed to in a new way. Terror is the opening track from Moonish, and like all great set ups, it embodies the tracks to follow.

TRACK LISTING

1. Terror Of The Countryside
2. The Wrong Kind
3. My Tiniest Bones
4. Throb
5. Tied And Grinded
6. To Be Flowers
7. Sky Is Dead
8. Rorschach
9. Reedy

The Baby Seals debut album, "Chaos," is a sonic exploration that blends heavy guitars, a pop edge, and a punk rock garage spirit with a heavy attack. The band, comprised of Amy "Amos" Devine on drums and backing vocals, Kate Shore on bass and backing vocals, and Kerry Devine on guitar and lead vocals, delivers a raw and energetic collection that captures the essence of their live performances.

Recorded in March 2023 in Thaxted, just outside of Essex, "Chaos" embodies the DIY ethos that has defined The Baby Seals' approach to music. Working with engineer Joe in a secluded outhouse surrounded by fields, the band laid down the tracks live over a day, capturing the unfiltered essence of their sound. Joe's extensive collection of homemade pedals added a unique touch to the recording, while Benny T's mixing expertise brought the album to its final form.

The decision to minimise post-production sets "Chaos" apart from previous recordings, reflecting the band's commitment to authenticity and a desire to showcase their growth and maturity.

On Chaos Kerry says: “Chaos is the next phase in life for us lasses in the band - babies and mid-life responsibilities. The album definitely is about how we feel and experience the world around us in our 30s and 40s. Someone who heard the album recently said it's like the The Baby Seals have grown up and I liked that because that's what I feel likes happened to me in the last two years… The album definitely has Themes: inclusivity, gender inequality, the mental load, the motherload, power, body positivity, challenging taboos, liberation. The importance of what to take seriously and what not to take seriously.

Title track, Chaos is one of the songs on the album which I'd written after a series of events including watching an interview with the late writer Benjamin Zephaniah who said the only way to liberation for all was to tear big governments down and to believe in your community.

The cover photo by Jeff Pitcher sums us up and hopefully gives you a feeling of what the album sounds like. Album design was created by Igor Prato Luna, he just seemed to understand what we are about. He referenced loads of wonderful album cover, poster and flyer artwork from the 60s - 90s, and even some fabulous sci-fi artwork from the 1920s and those incredible 1950s sci-fi pulp book covers. Nothing was referenced too heavily, though, and Igor definitely made it his own. “

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Clashing, distorted guitars and pumpelling percussion, topped with the near-shouted vocal trilogy of Amy and Kerry Devine and Kate Shore. It's rich in the traditions of punk rock and garage but with a more modern, sardonic vim. Superbly loud, and made for crashing around to.

TRACK LISTING

1. Yawn Porn
2. ID'd At Aldi
3. Vibrator
4. Chaos
5. Invisible Woman
6. My Labia Is Lopsided But I Don't Mind
7. Mild Misogynist
8. Nipple Hair
9. It's Not About The Money Honey

Indonesian trio Grrrl Gang builds on their considerable worldwide buzz with Spunky!, their full-length debut album.

Spunky! arrives following some major life changes for Angeeta Sentana (vocals, guitar), Akbar Rumandung (bass, vocals), and Edo Alventa (guitar, vocals), including a switch in locale from Yogyakarta, the city where they formed the band while still in college. “This is Grrrl Gang’s first release after we graduated and got day jobs that made us have to move to Jakarta, which is undeniably 180 degrees compared to Jogja,” says Rumandung. “But moving to Jakarta enabled us to work with Lafa on Spunky! from start to finish.” The song itself essentially describes Sentana's experience during a manic episode. “I feel like I’m on top of the world, untouchable. I do things without thinking, always chasing after that feeling of instant gratification. I feel extra confident in myself to a point of grandiose thinking and that I could do anything,” Sentana explains. That would be Lafa Pratomo, the in-demand producer brought in to help shape the ten tracks that make up Spunky! With a resume that includes the likes of the chanteuse Danilla and legendary singer-songwriter Iwan Fals, Pratomo might not seem the obvious choice to take the Grrrl Gang producer’s chair. But according to Rumandung, “In terms of production, this was something new for us by working with someone outside of Grrrl Gang’s comfort zone.” Indeed, Pratomo considerably beefs up Grrrl Gang’s sound particularly Alventa’s guitar tones, Rumandung’s rumbling bass, and touring drummer Muhammad Faiz Abdurrahman’s muscular beats while preserving the band’s signature raucous energy, catchy melodies, and Sentana’s attitude-filled, equal-parts-honey-and-vinegar vocals.

The power trio, composed of Angee Sentana on guitar and vocals, Akbar Rumandung on bass, and Edo Alventa on guitar, has been making waves in the Southeast Asian music scene since their formation in 2016. Grrrl Gang's music is a celebration of their collective roots and a testament to the power of pop music to connect people across cultures and borders. Their lyrics touch on themes such as feminism, mental health, and relationships with a raw honesty that speaks to a generation of young listeners. With their infectious energy, socially conscious lyrics, and unique sound, Grrrl Gang is poised to take the global music scene by storm and become a voice for a new generation. 

TRACK LISTING

01 Birthday Blues
02 A Fight Breaks Out At A Karaoke Bar
03 Rude Awakening
04 Spunky
05 Cool Girl
06 Better Than Life
07 Tower Moment
08 Mother’s Prayer
09 Blue Stained Lips
10 The Star

Since the release of her debut single in 2019, Glaswegian artist Neev has built a reputation for discovering beauty in the small details. Her talent for storytelling and worldbuilding has earned her early support from the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Sian Eleri and BBC Radio 6 Music’s Tom Robinson, as well as a sync on BBC drama Waterloo Road & Love Island. On April 28th, the now London-based musician is set to release her debut album, Katherine, a collection of intricate indie-folk songs that pack a lyrical punch. Buoyed by the experience of engineering, mixing and producing her 2021 EP Currants almost entirely alone whilst the country was in lockdown, much of Katherine was recorded at Neev’s home studio and the homes of a host of talented musician friends.

“It was really important to me that the album wasn’t only a group of songs but that it would also be a learning curve for me, and it was! I learnt so much about arrangement, frequency, the range of my voice and the way I like to construct songs and write,” she says. Katherine carries all of the trademark sounds of Neev’s previous releases. Acoustic guitars, soaring string arrangements and layered backing vocals can be found throughout, but this time they’re bigger. Standout single ‘Green’, a song about envy, calls to mind artists like Marika Hackman and Fenne Lily. The track was born out of the relief Neev felt being reunited with her band post-lockdown. “It just fell out of me,” she says. “I think my brain just wanted to write a big, fun track for us to play together,” she says. Every song on Katherine is tied to the idea of identity. “Each song explores the different facets of an individual,” explains Neev. “Them as someone’s child, someone’s sibling, someone’s partner. Someone as the gender (in my case, female) they identify as, someone as the job they do,” she continues. “In certain scenarios we play a role, at work we’re professional, at our family home we play out our function. Each track adopts a different role. For example, ‘The House’ is told from the point of view of a classic 60s housewife, the song paints them as unsatisfied, frustrated and pessimistic. However, that’s probably not how they feel all the time but it is when they’re playing their role”. ‘Fast Patterns’ is a real highlight. Written from the point of view of an imperfect friend, the song is about not knowing how to be there for someone in their darkest moments. It asks how far you should go for a friend in need and at what point you need to take a step back. Similarly, ‘Built Your Body’ is an open-hearted ode to finding resilience, the lyrics trace the different ways in which people get through the day. Neev’s passion for theatre and film has been integral to her development as a songwriter. Coming from a long line of actors and directors, she’s been an avid theatre goer from a young age, with one-person plays being her favourite. “I always find stirring solo shows inspiring as I love monologues and communication centred stories. They give me a huge amount of energy and ideas for lyrics,” she says. In fact, ‘Seawall’, a song about being stretched too thin, was actually inspired by a one-man play of the same name, written for and starring Andrew Scott. The song, like the play, features the recurring motif of a hole in the middle of the stomach. The album’s title encapsulates the record’s essence. “Katherine is a common name in my family and it’s also my middle name,” says Neev. “So whilst it has a personal meaning, it also exists in a few different ways. I named the album ‘Katherine’ because it touches on the themes of family, identity and the different identities one person can hold within themselves.” 

TRACK LISTING

1. Seawall
2. Green
3. Without Warmth
4. You Shouldn't Hate Your Teeth
5. Built Your Body
6. I Can Be Sorry
7. The House
8. Fast Patterns
9. Will I Change You
10. Hard Lines
11. Out Of The Blue

Trapped Animal Records is proud to announce Cambridge band, Tape Runs Out's debut album.

Floodhead is an exploratory sonic journey from the mind and soul of long-time band leader, Liam Goodrum-Bell (guitar, vocals). Tape Runs Out’s experimental sound comes in part from their excellent array of instrumentation - the band members bring violin (Clare Myerscough) and the hammered dulcimer (Ellie Winter), as well as bass (Takeshi Kanemoto) and drums (Laurence Moore). Recorded and produced by Liam and Dan Dawson (band’s guitarist) at Dan’s home studio over the course of a year, the album thrives off experimenting with different textures and sounds, with each song seeking to be its own microcosm of creativity, delivering its unique part within the whole. The painstaking detail and time spent by Liam and Dan between the initial recording session during the summers of 2021 and 2022 has resulted in an incredible production, and one that takes the listener through the Tape Runs Out universe. The first single from Floodhead, Souvenir made God is in the TV's track of the week and was heaped praise on by Steve Lamacq on his BBC 6 Music afternoon show and new music fix. 

TRACK LISTING

Jab
Ark
Souvenir
The Garden
The Garden Pt2
In The Muddles
Overseas Assignment
Paperback
90oc
Pillowtalk

Outsider, alt, psych, power trio Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something are the aural equivalent of a distorted photograph capturing the hinterland found between emotions and actions. Emerging like joyous sci-fi warriors, the songs either overtly or indirectly demonstrate solidarity with anyone that’s ever identified feeling off kilter with the rest of the universe and needed an equally wonky soundtrack to back it. An introspective journey through psychedelic glam-rock nightmares, woozy flows of self discovery and beguiling lyrics delivered with subtlety and intensity. Jem, Samuel Nicholson (bass) and Jason Ribeiro (drums) are your astral guides in this strange country, illuminating a path, in reality they’re as lost as the listener. In this limbo, thoughts tumble on top of each other through twisted rhythmic guitar, bass and drum lines that interchange and play with each other in a frenzied cosmic dance.

TRACK LISTING

Big Bread
Easy Peeler
Nobody Ever
Huge
Lump
Maersky
Bugles
I Thought Too Much
Sicilian Mousse
Take Me

Trapped Animal is pleased to announce the return of 90's legends Headswim! We present a reissue of their seminal psych-grunge masterpiece, Flood. Pressed on 180G, Double Vinyl Gatefold with photo lyric insert all printed on uncoated card, this is an absolutely stunning package that truly matches the timeless quality of the songs it houses. Flood #Redux - Headswim's seminal 1994 Psych-Grunge masterpiece gets its first reissue since the original 1994 pressing. A highly sought after record and produced with mountains of love between label and artists. Previously unreleased BBC sessions, and material from the Flood era. 

Cormorant Tree Oh announces the release of folk horror masterpiece, via Trapped Animal! “Marrying skeletal balalaika and disembodied samples with low-lying synth organ lines and a focal point here – Keane’s arresting vocals, it doubles as one of our favourite Irish tracks of the year thus far.” The Thin Air // Trapped Animal is very excited to announce we will be working with new visual and aural talent, Mary Keane aka Cormorant Tree Oh on her folk horror masterpiece that is Swoontide. The Cave, the first single from Swoontide dropped in June on digitals.

Mary says on the track: “This song is a celebration of the form and symbolism of caves. They are portals to another realm, the site of our earliest artistic expression, places of transcendence, the hermit’s refuge. They are colossal gees in the landscape. They are where picnicking lovers go to make mischief on a summer’s day. The cave in question is located in Portrane Co.Dublin.” Swoontide is the distillation of several years of Mary Keane’s life, recorded on her laptop as and when a new song or idea would come along. Mary talks about her process: “I love to stitch in samples from nature as so many of my songs are inspired in some way by the natural world. I’m also drawn to more domestic sounds like my mother’s washing machine or water coming to the boil. I play some unusual instruments throughout the album including balalaika, theremin, psaltery and lots of improvised percussion including bread bins, biscuit tins, stones, and a spiral staircase.” Try taking a walk in the dark with this album, we dare you.

TRACK LISTING

1. Thirty Deer Heads
2. Zip Issues
3. Sphere Of The Sensory
4. Pareidolia
5. Holiday Rigor Mortis
6. Pissing Stones
7. All Of It
8. The Cave
9. We Are Fruiting Bodies

Sunday Driver return with the announcement of their long-awaited, forthcoming album Sun God, the band’s fourth, and the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2014 record, Flo. Sun God is an album that draws influence from a rich plethora of literature, culture and fiction, from Hindu gods to HG Wells to the 1800s Gold Rush, fusing ideas together to create an expansive, cathartic and cohesive ‘Spaghetti Eastern’. Weaving through multiple languages, genres and sounds, the record plays tribute to the band’s cultural background and, despite its storyline theme, highlights a very personal experience. With each song, lyrics are enhanced by infectious songwriting that takes you on a stereoscopic journey through the collective minds of one of the UK’s most exciting bands.

The title track and album’s lead single, ‘Sun God’ is a perfect introduction to the record. Set against smoky, jazz-infused tones, sitars and featuring pioneer of the British Banghra sound, Kuljit Bhamra, on the tabla, the track wonderfully introduces the musicality of the album and its lyrical themes. Upcoming single ‘Time Machine’ continues with this theme matched against flamboyant, infectious instrumentation. The track’s title alludes to the album’s sub-plot, in which two women from a South Indian Village fall in love, rob a bank, and use a time machine to disappear: “One day I found a set of HG Wells novels in a charity shop, picked up the Time Machine and realised that was what the song was meant to be about!”

‘Sun God’ is a treasure trove of colourful songs that is well worth the wait since the band’s last, although that wait was not the original intention: “We have been demoing songs for this album since the summer of 2013. In the space of a few days in the studio we churned out almost 100 fledgling ideas between us. Some were snippets of melodies Chandy remembered from her childhood spent surrounded by south indian musicians.

Our producers had the idea of building these snippets into songs in the studio, leading to our EP ‘Flo’. We stuck with this approach for the new album, having fun and generating ideas in the studio as a band, then fitting them together later in an almost modular way. We were also incredibly lucky to have tabla maestro Kuljit Bhamra to work with – he would send back absolute tabla gold to go with any song we made!” Sun God cements Sunday Driver’s place as one of the UK’s most inventive and diverse bands. However, Sun God is only the beginning. The record is part one of a two-part album, the latter of which will be due 2023

TRACK LISTING

01 Aftermath
02 Sun God
03 For A Few Regrets More
04 Sylvi
05 In Your Shadow
06 Somewhere Nice
07 Mathanga
08 Time Machine.
09 Keepsake.

Siv Disa, the Chinese-American New York singer currently residing in Iceland releases her debut album, Dreamhouse on UK based label Trapped Animal. The artwork was conceived and built by Siv Disa. It features a dreamy hand-painted dollhouse—the front image is a photograph of a tangerine sherbet living-room-in-miniature, complete with a teacup table and a glowing salt shaker lamp.

The artist herself is hanging on the wall ensconced in a gilded frame overlooking the tableau. The back cover explores the same dollhouse, from a distance: there’s a garden in the basement, a maze of threads in the gallery, and a small ocean in the bathroom. A callback to the intricate maximalism of 70’s psychedelia and Neo-art nouveau, there are layers of details embedded into each room for the viewer to discover. Dreamhouse is a wild journey through its creator's psyches. It moves from gentle break-up songs to dark nights out in the fluorescent haze of nighttime New York and Reykjavik city filled with deep hallucinogenic beats... before it finally closes on a song infused with the isolation of 2020. The first part of Dreamhouse was recorded in upstate New York with collaborator and producer Sam and the sea, they both chose to relocate when the pandemic hit the US – and regrouped at a studio cabin in the wilderness to complete Dreamhouse and take time to escape the ensuing storm we all faced.

It’s important to understand, whilst a product finalised during lockdown – this album was largely conceived way before the lockdown or pandemic, this is Siv Disa’s debut album and it was always going to be luminous and otherworldly, as with its creators. Quotes : “psychedelic pop that converges the encompassing textures of Broadcasts with Joanna Newsom’s pleasantly off-kilter melodies” - Line Of Best Fit // “...a haunting feel, while her warm, soft voice invites the listener into even the darkest of stories…Fear is an embodiment of this distinct sound she’s mastered.” Audiofemme // “profound lyrics flow from an ethereal plane, it’s an utterly captivating offering”

TRACK LISTING

1 Whistle
2 Painted Ceiling
3 Fear
4 Music In The Streets
5 Sorry
6 My My
7 Breathing
8 Beat
9 In The Hills

Stars and Rabbit has been continuously sharing their journey over the last decade, originating from a cultural city in Central Java, off to write in cultural Dutch towns, savored the legendary music venue in Camden Town to Iceland’s most exquisite stage, and humbly experienced the traditional Japanese sacred stage. These have broadened their perspectives and senses of making music that really speaks out their distinct personalities. They become more aware of their own evolution and all they want is just to make music borderless. A field of limitless expressions called playground and it always brings them the purest of joy. It's going to be an exciting journey to follow the world they create. Their newest album, On Different Days, will be out on June 25th. This album expresses their thoughts about creating space for oneself. As the world once stopped and forced people to reconnect with their being, they're taking all that time to redefine everything. "...a truly spectacular piece of forward-thinking folk" The Line of Best Fit // "...feels both joyfully innocent and completely badass" Ones To Watch

TRACK LISTING

01 Merry Alone
02 Moon Lone City
03 Who Am I Now
04 Misty Garden
05 One Foot
06 Library Of My Mind
07 Pretty Anticipated
08 Time Traveller 

A Yorkshire farmer who led a challenging and isolated existence, caring for elderly relatives whilst running her farm in the most extreme conditions. She became an overnight celebrity after appearing in an ITV documentary, her virtues of hard work without any complaints, without any expectations of praise or credit, were something an entire nation identified with. Hauxwell is the subject of album track ‘Perfectly Planned’, whilst ‘Hellsto’ looks on admiringly at the working women of WW1 and WW2, who often go nameless, under the radar. “FORGE’ is about the small pockets of communities that are overlooked, unheard, ignored. Their ways of work and living are changing, either drying up or being sold off, and this is causing people to burn with frustration whilst also causing them to reaffirm their strengths and identities”, say Fassine.

The London trio’s distinctive take on electronic music has previously earned acclaim and support from the likes of The Guardian, The Independent, Clash and more. Yet on ‘FORGE’ they’re bolder than ever before, the instrumentation heavier and more aggressive than on previous full lengths ‘Gourami’ (2017) and ‘Dialectik’ (2016). They still follow tradition in one sense though, opting again to feature a cover, this time Paolo Conte’s‘ Max’ with guest vocals from Italy’s Fabrizio Pagni (Arqtic, Zen Circus). Recorded primarily at London’s Battery Studios, Sarah Palmer, Laurie Langan and James Hayward (Fassine) would play late into the night, adopting a much more improvisational approach than previously, “This process was far more improvisational - a lot of ideas were done on-the-fly in the studio. We had a skeletal demo, then ideas were batted out and put down.

Far fewer demos were gone through to begin with, and gut instinct was followed much more quickly. We also decided that no matter what the song, if we liked it, it would go on’’. Since their last release, Fassine have been busy on our screens, the London trio’s XTC cover of ‘That Wave’ appeared on the Sky Arts’ documentary on the seminal band, This Is Pop. Their track ‘Whatever It Takes To Help You Sleep’ played as the backdrop to Netflix’s first feature film ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’, and ‘Leaves’ was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s Queen Sugar. ‘FORGE’ literally meaning to ‘create something strong and enduring’. And with this album, Fassine have embodied the grit and grime of their personal heroes to weld into existence something that’s an industrial and hard-hitting piece of craftsmanship. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Forge
2. Limbs
3. Magpie
4. Perfectly Planned
5. Migraine
6. Everyone Is Guilty To Me
7. Max
8. Bloom
9. Hellsto (The Sweetness Came For Us)

Maija Sofia, one of Irelands most lauded young folk artists has produced a timeless debut album, inspired by story-driven traditional folk-ballads, shone through the lens of punk DIY ethos. Following the success of lo-fi dream-pop single ‘Flowers’, Maija Sofia releases her debut album ‘Bath Time’ Sofia took inspiration fromstory-driven traditional folk ballads and shone them through the lens of a punk DIY ethos. The album name comes from the ritual of daily bathing, a whimsical place where most of the lyrics were written. The album deals with the ways in which women's voices, stories and desires have been sidelined and misrepresented throughout history. From Edie Sedgwick to Bridget Cleary, Sofia's songs imagine a world in which silenced women speak back..


The album was recorded by Chris Barry at Ailfionn Studio and features performances by Ronan Kealy (Junior Brother) and Niall Murphy (Oh Boland). The Gold Shoes’, is a mystical, ethereal opening before the melancholic ‘Hail Mary’, which starts soft, but the music grows in power as Sofia interrogates the sexual hypocrisy of the Catholic church, and the harp feeds into the haunting sound with effortless complexity and depth. ‘Edie Sedgwick’, named after the muse of Andy Warhol has alt-country elements from lap steel player Niall Murphy (Oh Boland) and cellist Laura McCabe (Molly Sterling). ‘The Wife of Michael Cleary’ is an ode to Bridget Cleary, killed by her husband in 1895. Michael Cleary believed his wife had been abducted by fairies with a changeling left in her place. The male vocal is provided by off-kilter alt-folk Junior Brother, with singing in the round building tension.


‘The Glitter’ is disturbingly beautiful, an ode to Jean Rhys, a troubled novelist from the Carribean who came to England aged 16 and dealt with issues of displacement and unbelonging. As is ‘Cobweb’ with Sofia’s rich contralto “I didn’t know I was on my own. I’m only as wise as you.” ‘Morning’ mourns lost relationship and the failure of trying to fix a flawed lover. ‘Elizabeth’ dwells on the troubled love affair between Elizabeth Siddal and the Pre-Raphaelite painter Rossetti.. ‘The Trees They Do Grow High’ is a disturbing English folk ballad sung from the point of view of a woman forced to marry an inappropriately younger man.. The album wraps around the listener like a velvet cloak, time is irrelevant, and the pain and complexity of female life has been sharply observed by Sofia. 'Bath Time' is a collection of songs written between Dublin, London and rural Galway, it was recorded slowly over several months by Chris Barry in Ailfionn Studio in Dublin. The guitar and vocals tracks were recorded all in one take and then others we brought in to finish the piece - Niall Murphy from Oh Boland plays lap steel and synths, Christophe Capewell who plays with Lisa O'Neill played fiddle, harp by Meabh McKenna, synths by Clara Tracey, and Cello by Laura McCabe, and some guest vocals by Ronan Kealy (Junior Brother). 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Beautiful brittle guitar pieces, cavernous echoes and Sofia's transportive vocal prowess form together into a haunting and effecting whole. Brilliantly original and reassuringly heartfelt.

TRACK LISTING

1 The Gold Shoes
2 Hail Mary
3 Edie Sedgwick
4 The Wife Of Michel Cleary
5 The Glitter
6 Cobweb
7 Morning
8 Elizabeth
9 The Trees They Do Grow High