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Bess Atwell: Light Sleeper review – poignant, dreamlike miniatures
This striking English singer-songwriter embraces life in all its complications on her classy third album, produced by the National’s Aaron Dessner
The winsome female singer-songwriter is an overplayed trope, but Brighton-based Atwell – on her third album – manages to combine the hazy languor endemic to the Lana Del Rey era with the left-field precision of Julia Jacklin, creating a body of songs that transcends sad-girl truisms. Tapering off antidepressants and embracing the full force of life is an overarching theme: “to wake up and feel everything,” as Atwell sings on the title track. Producer Aaron Dessner happened upon Atwell’s work and volunteered his services; Big Thief’s James Krivchenia, Beirut’s Ben Lanz and Sufjan Stevens collaborator James McAlister appear on additional instruments, an overlay of middlebrow US indie lacquer that – remarkably – does not overshadow Atwell’s individuality.
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