Choosing (Live at The George Tavern)

Chronique

A U.K. singer/songwriter who started out on the Cambridge scene in the early 2010s before settling in London, Sophie Jamieson's full-length and Bella Union debut, Choosing, arrives only after a significant and trying hiatus. Following early releases including the Folkroom-issued Where EP (2013), a bad recording session and subsequent breakdown led to a six-year hiatus for Jamieson. She eventually returned to music with a pair of EPs, hammer and release, in 2020. Distinguished by their hazy intimacy and candid lyrical nature, they emerged from a period of difficult isolation before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Doubling down on the rawness already characteristic of her blend of folk and brooding indie rock, Choosing was written during and about her struggles with alcohol addiction. She described the song "Sink," for instance, as a "love letter" to alcohol. Like much of the album, it opens sparsely with a series of piano dyads and the words, "Whisky/You staring at me/Another afternoon on the beach with/My head stuck in the sea." The song gains some volume and instruments like light drums, bass, vocal harmonies, a bright, upper-register piano melody, and even a bit of distortion as it progresses, while lyrics fall into a repeated "I don't need you to sink me." Repetition and rumination are frequent throughout Choosing, as Jamieson ultimately makes a message of the album's economical title. While this lends itself to a certain amount of musical stagnancy, some changes of pace unfold along the way in the form of the catchy "Runner," which begins with spare electric guitar and voice but progresses at a tuneful, accelerating gallop; "Addition," which gradually adopts a shimmery grunge; and the rousing, dramatic "Who Will I Be," a song that could underscore a romantic reunion between sprinting onscreen lovers if not for its devastating lyrics. Perhaps even more tragic, at least on a macro level, is the unusually wry "Empties," a circular dream-folk anthem to being left behind. Although both poignant and unsettling, Choosing includes moments of hope, namely the idea of coming out on the other side, and ends with the murmured words, "You're a woman/And you're only on Side A/You still got the whole long play to twist."
© Marcy Donelson /TiVo