Fresh from the release of her debut album TENT, Zoe Graham is playing some special live shows this Autumn with support from Scott C. Park.
Zoe Graham writes songs that feel like doing push-ups on the moon: heavy, but with an unmistakably light touch. Her latest album —TENT — has all the intimacy and vulnerability of the therapist’s chaise longue, but with the door flung wide open for others to listen in.
Guitars curdle with plush synths and tautly machined drums, as Zoe draws influence from Kate Bush (she shares a knack for catch-you-off-guard choruses with the ‘80s icon), St Vincent (Daddy’s Home was a regular backing sound during writing sessions for TENT), and Beck (“he’s very free as a songwriter; everything’s thought through, but it’s not painstaking”). She leans on David Bowie’s advice not to stay grounded in your deep pool of ideas, but rather to push up and off, and let your toes just brush the floor from time to time.
Age restriction: Over 14 / under 18s must be accompanied by an adult
There is an impressive maturity and attention to detail in Zoe Graham’s music that sets this accomplished young songwriter apart from her peers. On stage, you will find her either with band or fleshing out the instrumentation with loop pedals on solo outings.
But when Zoe pares it back to just a vocal and acoustic guitar, as she does on the achingly poignant The Anniesland Lights (from her recent Hacket & Knackered EP), that is when you know you’re in the company of someone very special indeed. Championed by Radio Scotland’s Roddy Hart and with multiple Celtic Connections appearances to her name, Zoe Graham’s understated charms will not stay below the radar for much longer.