Upon the release of her Always, Already album – Bess Atwell’s missive as a songwriter marked her as one of Britain’s most assured young voices.
Brighton-based artist Bess Atwell reveals her new single ‘Sylvester,’ premiering via Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music and out today alongside its new video. Produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, ‘Sylvester’ sees Bess contemplate and re-evaluate familial roles and relationships through the resurrection of the track’s namesake, an imaginary character from her childhood. The single is the first new music from Atwell following her critically acclaimed album Already, Always, which was released via Lucy Rose’s Communion imprint Real Kind Records.
For Atwell, ’Sylvester’ personifies the inner tension between the desire to be a source of joy and distraction to those we love, yet the subsequent dissatisfaction and loneliness these attempts can bring. In the liminal space between this conflict is the ever-present sense of hopefulness that these two feelings can co-exist. Although Atwell’s knack for capturing the nuance and minutiae of the human experience in her songwriting is well documented, in ‘Sylvester’ this takes on a new resonance. Shortly following the track’s recording at Dessner’s studio in upstate New York, she received her diagnosis for Autism Spectrum Disorder, bringing with it a wave of validation for her both personally and artistically.