Georgie – At Home

With all but one track recorded – necessarily – within the limits of her home studio, Georgie’s new release proves the potential even straitened circumstances can offer for a real talent. At Home is almost exclusively a solo work, with one song, Chasing Kites, recorded earlier on with song-writing maestro Eg White (see also: Adele, Sam Smith, Dua Lipa). And while Georgie’s particular style shines through each of the tracks, they each traverse their theme uniquely, working out the nuances of a personal journey inseparable from a wider context.

Clean acoustic guitars and distinctive percussion open the record on Company, a strong start that proves Georgie’s skill both as composer and vocalist. The lyrics – celebratory, without lapsing into thoughtless nostalgia – remind us to recognise joy when it’s there and prepare the listener for a deeper exploration of emotion both sweet and bitter in the following tracks, ever grounded by a powerful vocal that has been fortuitously spared too much studio editing. Slower cuts – Unrequited Love and Now We’re Lonely are standouts – create space for an injection of poetry into the lyrics, never at the expense of evident thoughtfulness, while the pared-back Me and You Only is remarkably direct – an example, for those who might need a reminder, of the strength in honesty, in communication.

Nowhere is this strength more present than in Chasing Kites (“Still thinking of her, still thinking of you / And it’s already boring”), which reframes the end of a relationship as a lucky escape without downplaying the impact that this, as any transition, must have. Its upbeat, optimistic outlook pairs well with the record’s final track, Blue Waters, which does not resist the possibility of hopefulness. But it would not be too much of an exaggeration to suggest the song’s refrain – “When this is all over” – might be understood as a question as much as a promise or a wish.

Sylvia Unerman

At Home is released on 7^th August 2020. For further information or to order the album visit Georgie’s website here.

Watch the lyric video for Chasing Kites here: