Bitter Sweet Symphonies favourite Genevieve Dawson offers up one final number, ‘Carry It Slowly‘, before the release of her debut LP, Letters I Won’t Send, due September 25th. Having wowed us with the dreamy atmospherics of her previous release ‘Tight Lips‘, here she strips back her sound to present a beautifully restrained number, recorded live in one take at a self-built studio in a North London church. With just Dawson’s voice and a simple guitar backing you hear the energy and electricity of a live performance, with all the echo, intimacy and ambience of the room’s acoustics lending a real ethereal quality to the recording.
There’s nuance and subtlety in her delivery, the kind that few artists are able to fully master, and a timeless quality that brings to mind the effortless harmonies of The Staves’ early material. Her voice is just one-of-a-kind, casting you under its spell from the start with its elegant, soothing quality. As the focal point for the track, she sings with such grace and restraint, managing to convey so much emotion at the same time. It’s a striking balance which she has total control over.
In an age when artists seem under pressure to relentlessly innovate, it’s comforting to hear an artist who has the instinct to resist adding too much to their sound. There’s a very natural, organic quality to Dawson’s approach, with nothing too forced or polished in its delivery. It just unfurls at a rolling, luxurious pace. Previous comparisons to the likes of Laura Marling and Joni Mitchell are fully justified once again.
Having already caught the attention of BBC Radio London and 6 Music’s Tom Robinson, there’s rapidly growing anticipation for when Letters I Won’t Send lands, which, alongside production from Rotem Haguel and Rick Leigh, features Dawson’s band: an array of players whose work includes jazz fusion ensemble Minyanta, new-soul artist Denai Moore and Mercury Prize Winning Seed Ensemble. From the run of form established by ‘Carry It Slowly’ and previous singles, we can’t wait to hear what is surely set to become one of our highlights of 2020.
‘Carry It Slowly’ is out now – available to Stream/Purchase here.
