A new, fresh voice in contemporary UK folk music, Yoshika Colwell embraces minimal soundscapes, allowing her storytelling to shine through. Here, she takes us through the 5 tracks from her debut project.
‘It’s Getting Late’
At its core ‘it’s getting late’ is about the cycles of life, death and time. It’s an attempt to make peace with these unchangeable things. I wrote it in one afternoon at my parents house, whilst looking at their garden and feeling preoccupied with the mind boggling fact that everything has to end. It explores the idea that when we embrace the fact that we exist within nature rather than outside of it, we actually can find solace, and it can be quite radically freeing. This idea is present in the line “in this garden, we’ll be fine, we’ll beat the time”. Though it’s not really about beating death or existing outside of cycles, it’s about knowing how to take your place in them whilst still finding enjoyment and meaning in the things that you do.
The recording on the EP is the first take that we ever recorded of the song with the band, which feels special. There is a freeness & spontaneity to the playing which I think comes from this.
‘Please’
Please is a conversation and a series of questions— both with the person it’s addressed to and to myself I suppose. The song is primarily focused on recognising unhealthy dynamics in relationships and seeking change, for the sake of everyone involved. It feels like a statement of readiness for these shifts, shifts that will hopefully bring about a much needed catharsis. It was written from a place of frustration but it’s a hopeful song.
‘Adelaide’
I feel like Adelaide is potentially the most emotionally raw and exposing tracks on the EP. It looks at a time in my life which featured a lot of deep seated frustration and not being able to articulate my emotional needs. It’s about feeling powerless, like you’re not the one driving your life, you’re just floating along without much direction and then resenting people when they try to help you. It looks at domesticity which you’re not ready for and how claustrophobic that can feel, through no fault any one party really. It is also a song exploring queerness, and the clarity of feeling you experience when you act in alignment with your deeper desires. It is ultimately a song about autonomy, trusting your intuition and not suppressing yourself.
‘Jump Right In’
This song is about the headiness of youth. It’s about deep connection and those perception shifting conversations you have when you’re 18, deeply in love and probably on quite a lot of drugs. The ones where you put the world to rights and talk about the universe and its infinite expansiveness. It’s about how deeply those bonds, made in that way when we are emotionally supple and unguarded and hopeful exist within us for a long time after the actual relationship ends. And how they can cast a shadow on our lives if we can’t bring ourselves to let them go or let them metamorphosize.
‘There’s A Time‘
The title track of the EP, this song explores the central themes of the body of work: acceptance & transformation. It is about a very long relationship which took lots of different forms, before finally properly ending. It is about putting somebody you care about on a pedestal and the dissonance you feel when the scales finally fall from your eyes. It is a balm to soothe, a song about genuine acceptance and trying to go forward with an open heart.
Listen to Yoshika Colwell on Spotify and Apple Music. Tickets to see her in Manchester are available here.
