Helena Walker is a Bristol-based singer-songwriter who makes dreamy folk-pop as herbal tea. Next month she'll release her debut album Hear As The Mirror Echoes, which she's previewing today with the lead single/opening track "Seventeen."
Walker cites Sparklehorse and Sharon Van Etten as some of her biggest influences, but "Seventeen" -- which is not a Van Etten cover -- is full-on Grouper-like ambient pop. It's a six-minute sprawl with little connection to time, both literally and lyrically: "I'm inventing life again at seventeen," Walker murmurs in the opening lines, before realizing later on: "I can't recall my birthday, where has it been?" In a press release, Walker adds:
"Seventeen" was written whilst processing trauma, dissociation and a longing to feel free. I wrote the lyrics in a stream of consciousness. It was one of the first songs where I used songwriting and recording as a form of therapy. I held onto this song for years, but it was hard to get it to fit sonically. It went through so many versions until it finally captured the feeling of the demo. That process ended up sparking a domino effect for the sounds and textures that became the foundation of the entire album. There is a section halfway where the chaos stills and the piano and vocals re-emerge. It’s one of my favourite moments on the record.
Watch the Chris Pugh-directed video for "Seventeen" below, along with the full album tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Seventeen"
02 "Grounded"
03 "Kitchen Floor (4 A.M.)"
04 "Submarine"
05 "Driving Slow"
06 "Garden"
07 "Frank"
08 "Sundown"
09 "Kara"
Hear As The Mirror Echoes out 8/29 via Orindal/Gold Day.
