Brighton-based singer-songwriter Bess Atwell has announced her third studio album, produced by the National's Aaron Dessner and led by new single "Release Myself."
Light Sleeper is due May 24 (happy birthday to this writer!) through Real Kind Records. It marks the follow-up to Atwell's sophomore record, 2021's lovely Already, Always, and includes previous 2023 singles "Sylvester" and "The Weeping."
Recorded at Dessner's Long Pond Studios in New York, the album features additional contributions from Big Thief’s James Krivchenia, Beirut’s Ben Lanz, and frequent Sufjan Stevens collaborator James McAlister. It's also the first album Dessner — who Atwell refers to as one of her heroes — has worked on in several years that he didn't write.
“Light Sleeper is about the willingness to feel,” the singer-songwriter explained in a statement. “While writing the album, I was realizing that somewhere along the line, I had become very afraid of feeling. The record is about facing this realization and finding the bravery to challenge it."
Of the shimmery, '90s-inspired new single, Atwell added, "There are always a couple of songs on a record that just sort of fall out of you and this was one of them. This was the first time I’ve managed to write about my panic disorder without slipping too far into sorry-for-myself or cheesy, faux-empowering territory."
Watch the "Release Myself" video below, and keep scrolling for the entire album tracklisting.
Light Sleeper:
1. Everyone Who’s Not in Love with You Is Wrong
2. Release Myself
3. Sylvester
4. Fan Favourite
5. The Weeping
6. Something Now
7. Spinning Sun
8. I Am Awake
9. Crowds
10. Light Sleeper