Garden Dream

As she's gotten older, Ella Smoker has found that her subconscioushas been trying to tell her "some pretty wacky stuff". Thoughts willcome to the 21-year-old singer-songwriter in dreams, or as shewrites lyrics in studio sessions, words floating onto the page beforeshe's really had a moment to realise what they are. "As soon as westart making the music, my brain sort of turns off," she explains. "I'llbe sitting there, writing all this stuff that feels like a load ofnonsense, and a month later, I'll look back and be like 'oh'. It allcomes from a place I didn't even realise was there."In learning how to open up to herself, Gglum ended up finding akindred spirit in producer Karma Kid (Maisie Peters, Shygirl, ConnieConstance), pushing past her natural bedroom-pop introversion tofind joy in the process of collaboration. Whether it's the raggedradio-rock of 'SPLAT!' ("basically about realising that somebody youheld up very highly is actually just a massive shambles of aperson") or the riotous, industrial energy of 'Easy Fun', Smoker isable to reshape her vocal around the mood, creating a record whichexpertly balances light and shade. "I've never really done anythingin like that vocal style before," she says of 'Easy Fun's near-spokendelivery. "I love that song because it's not something I would havecome up with on my own, but Karma Kid was great at pushing meout of my comfort zone. I just thought like, look: I can be a littlesilly with this."The release of 'The Garden Dream' will offer Gglum plenty moreopportunity to get both silly and serious, to be bold in herexploration of new ideas and sounds. But it will also offer theopportunity to further accept herself as the dreamlike artist shealways wanted to be; confidently embellishing acoustic worlds thather listeners can burrow safely within."I feel like I naturally gravitate towards wanting to make musicalspaces that you can feel like you're living in, rather than trying tomake songs", she says. "That's something I really wanted to solidifywith this album: I basically want to make music that feels like whenyou're looking out the window and it's the end of the film andyou're imagining what comes next. That's the sound of what I wantto be doing."