Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker - Seedlings All (2018)

The pair's debut album 'Overnight' was a triumph, a set of folk-hewn songs that managed to irk the traditionalists through its sheer vivid originality.

Able to tour far and wide, these experiences feed into new album 'Seedlings All', billed as one of their most autobiographical statements yet.

Out on March 23rd via Rough Trade (pre-order LINK), Josienne explains: “For the first time I’m out there alone with a bunch of songs that expose my insecurities, fears of failure and inflated pride. They deal with my own specific thoughts and feelings about the reality of pursuing this kind of career, the cost to personal relationships, circumstance and lifestyle, and asking the question - "Is this still worth it?” They’re about trying to find an inner balance in an environment that doesn’t provide any balance or certainty. Where one day everything is brilliant and the next day it could all be over. Where one night ends in a standing ovation and the next starts by playing to an empty room."

New song 'Chicago' is online now, and it's a spurred by a lengthy drive to the American city. "We got to our hotel on the outskirts of town and had five minutes to drop our bags and then get back in the car to drive another hour into the centre of Chicago to sound check. We did that, soundcheck went fine, but then NO ONE came to the gig".

"There was a support act that night who despite being local didn't appear to have any friends. It was one of those gigs where you wonder whether it's even worth going on, but we're sticklers for a contractual obligation, so we played. After our set one of the guys from the support band said to me that he thought an hour set of our music was "a bit long" because "it's the kind of music you have to listen to and think about and it's Saturday and no one wants to do that"."

"So I was sitting at the bar drinking my quadruple Bulliet bourbon thinking "fuck this, I'm not doing it anymore, the world is not made for my gift!" and then I realised that I was being a knob and that's just how it is, we're not the fucking Beatles and we have to start somewhere, we played to no one in the UK and we'd have to get used to it here too. So I wrote this song mainly to have a word with myself about not being a massive diva....”