Wilsen is a dark folk trio anchored by Tamsin Wilson, a Brooklyn-based musician originally from London. Wilsen met her band’s other members Drew Arndt and Johnny Simon during her time at Berklee School of Music, and Wilson first began to emerge back in 2013 when they all three moved to New York. The band quickly gained attention for their wispy, electric takes on folk ballads that sometimes spun themselves into a mighty flurry.
Four years ago, Wilsen first released “Dusk” — a song that will still makes its way onto her debut album — and the swirling dream folk ballad blew me away immediately. Off the strength of this song, and a sparkling slowcore Grimes cover, Wilson earned a spot opening for her fellow British dark-folk darlings, 4AD’s Daughter.
In late 2013 Wilson released the Sirens double EP and followed that up with Magnolia in 2014, both of these sold out on Bandcamp quite soon after they were released, and help establish Wilsen as one of the foremost emerging folk/baroque pop artists in the Brooklyn scene. About a year later, in 2015, “Garden” appeared as the first sign of her debut, but then news of that eventual record never followed, until today, when NPR premiered yet another track off the record.
“Heavy Steps” is a new one off Wilsen’s full-length I Go Missing In My Sleep, which will be released in April. It’s a restrained yet still muscular lullaby full of closely-picked guitar melodies that flex and bend like tendons, while Wilson’s voice floats above, contemplating the sacred space of early mornings. According to a press release, morning was when Wilson composed most of these songs in an Brooklyn apartment, before the city began to stir itself awake. The 11-track album was recorded upstate New York and Philadelphia with producer Ben Baptie.
Listen to the song above and check out the album artwork and full tracklist for the record below.
I Go Missing In My Sleep tracklist:
1. “Centipede”
2. “Garden”
3. “Kitsilano”
4. “Heavy Steps”
5. “Otto”
6. “Light Between The Leaves”
7. “Dusk”
8. “A Parting”
9. “Emperor”
10. “Final”
11. “Told You”
I Go Missing In My Sleep comes out April 28 via Secret City. Get it here.
