New Music: Josaleigh Pollett – The Witness

With a new album, If I Let It Quiet, and a US tour on the way, Josaleigh Pollett has dropped a new single, The Witness.

If it’s a signal to the direction of her fourth solo album, then we are in for a treat, as The Witness spins a shoegaze foundation off into an arrangement that is more indie and sometimes folk-like in nature, the clarity of the vocals contrasting with flickers of distortion and reverb.

This may sound an odd compliment, I know, but I can easily visualise The Witness on the soundtrack to an HBO or Apple TV series. Thanks to the widescreen production and the folk/rock/indie crossover Pollett’s vocals bring to the song, it sits outside time and genre, with a candidness to it that allows you to find a personal message in the lyrics.

And while The Witness and previous albums by the artist don’t necessicarily have a direct comparison to them in terms of music, if you like Agnes Obel, Marika Hackman, or Joni Mitchell’s 70s work, the music of Josaleigh Pollett needs adding to your must-play list.

“The Witness is a song about knowing that to be seen and held and understood, you must first see and hold and understand,” states Pollett. “It’s about love, beyond limits and gender, across multiple universes. It’s also a little bit about deleting my Twitter account.”

She adds about If I Let It Quiet, which was produced by long-time and now long-distance collaborator – since he was living in Japan when they recorded the album – Jordan Watko (Crowd Shy), “This album is an exploration of what it takes to quiet the noise of geographical and emotional distance in order to hear ourselves and the ones who see us.”

“In true independent DIY fashion and similar to 2023’s In The Garden, By The Weeds, If I Let It Quiet is recorded mostly at home between my Salt Lake City makeshift home studio and Jordan’s apartment in Japan. The difference this time is that we’re bringing in more collaborations. In particular, Andrew Goldring, who, in addition to mixing and mastering, brought deeper instrumentation to If I Let It Quiet.”

If I Let It Quiet releases via Lavender Vinyl and Audio Antihero on the 24th of July in vinyl and digital formats – you can pre-order it on Bandcamp. Stop-offs for Pollett’s upcoming tour include Portland, Los Angeles, and Denver, with an album launch in her hometown on the 25th of July. For all the latest news, connect with Josaleigh Pollett on TikTok or Instagram.

Header image by P.J. Guinto