Letham Nights #94 - Zoe Graham

She's back! Zoe returns to the hall - this time with her full band and a new and exciting indie pop vibe! Whoop! 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. As a young musician, born and raised in Glasgow, Zoe “did everything”: she formed bands, joined bands, played the fiddle, hit up open mics, and was once tricked into attending a line dancing class. She wrote and gigged relentlessly. Her folkish beginnings still sing through in a penchant for story-led songwriting, and a vocal range that spans the delicate and disaster-struck — but Zoe’s voice is now bedded in a broader sonic palette, and guided by close collaboration with trusted musical friends. When she’s not working on her own songs, Zoe helps others to write theirs — and figure out their own stories — as a community musician and songwriter helping to run workshops for vulnerable adults and young people who have experienced mental health issues, homelessness, or difficult backgrounds.