The first track, 'other ways of landing', as well as being the title track, introduces the listener to a dreamlike nostalgia with a minimalist but warm ambient soundscape layered with varying synth arpeggios to give it a floaty and whimsical movement. Regarding the seasonal journey of the EP, the minimalism and vulnerability of this opening song leads with winter and associations with the beginning of the year. The legato and low-end warmth of the track signifies the merciless progression of time and how it stops for no one, but how we must keep adapting. The vocals cut through the mix superbly with a conscious dynamic fluctuation between verse and chorus. It dips in and out of double tracked vocals as well as string layered harmonies that really elevate the evocative nature of these section changes.

We encounter more endearing catharsis through the EP with tracks such as ‘(easily) moved’, adopting almost a bossa nova type groove, exuding a more dominant summer associated sound. This is primarily conducted in the first verse by the warm and enveloping guitar layering with minimal but effective sub-end percussion. The vibrato and top-end range of the vocals cut through so magnificently in the prechorus, with the introduction of the string layer emulating a backing vocal, which feels so innovative and really benefits the trajectory of the track. The chorus then opens up into this feel-good groove with the percussion moving to a snare and hi hat groove that feels dynamically observant.

‘milk blue’ concludes the EP, infallibly coming back with that calendrical theme; it sonically signifies that termination of the year in preparation to do it all again. It strips back all the dynamics from the songs prior to it and feels the most vulnerable and gut wrenchingly beautiful out of the five. We had the pleasure of chatting to Pem about the upcoming release, and can see why it's one of her favourite songs to perform. It's a truly transcendent experience with the perfect quantity of instrumental flourishes and background droning pad reinforcing the imagery to the vocals.

The lyrics throughout this body of work tackle themes of loss, existentialism and an uncertainty of control, linking back to the nature and space motif throughout the EP. They resonate with the masses, explaining how we must adapt to situations thrown at us, and how we are in control of only ourselves and how we deal with the hand we are dealt.

other ways of landing is incredibly and convincingly masterful, and its considered array of sonic vulnerability will tug at the heartstrings of all those who encounter and resonate with it.

When did you start Pem's musical journey and was there anything that catalysed it?

I picked up the guitar at age 13 because I really liked Elliott Smith, Laura Marling and Nick Drake, so I started learning their tracks by teaching myself. I started writing my own tracks, which initially I didn’t have that much confidence with, but then around 2022, I started playing live infrequently. It wasn't until a friend I went to college with came to see me play, said to me after the gig that he wanted to record some of my tracks and he ended up doing the entire first EP that I self-released. Having spent my childhood in Basingstoke, I didn't grow up thinking that music was a viable career path, but after this debut release, I started picking up some more gigs, some bigger radio plays, and stuff started building more organically, so it was at that point where I acknowledged the fact that I could do something more than this.

If this EP’s sonic aesthetic were a film, which film would it be?

That's a tough one! It would have to be something loose to space that's quite surreal. It would have elements of sadness but pretty abstract - I don't know any films like that off the top of my head but that would be the general aesthetic.

What was a pivotal album that shaped your songwriting?

I'm not too sure about an album, but when I heard the artist Eartha Kitt (a multilingual early 50s singer) singing, I noticed some similarities in our vocal delivery. I watched a video of her performing with her low vibrato delivery and learnt how she used it to solidify my delivery and channel my strengths rather than altering my voice to sound like some other greats.

In terms of music, I remember listening to this track called ‘Forget about’ by Sibylle Baier at uni and falling in love with it. I wanted to write a song like it with that bittersweet element, but with a rather abstract execution. I liked the idea that it was all DIY and recorded to tape with random imperfections in the recording. It felt very characterful.

Your voice really elevates the movement of each track and you've honed so beautifully, but I think a lot of artists can resonate with that initial comparative element. They might not necessarily know if or where they fit into the music sphere; how did you combat this?

I had no idea where I sat compared to the greats. I was sitting listening to Amy Winehouse and Laura Marling growing up and trying to emulate that, but I think playing to your strengths is really beneficial. Finding Eartha Kitt and other artists like Ella Fitzgerald really helped my confidence. Once I found them, I learned to play with my vocals a bit more and find a solid delivery for me.

This is a remarkably cathartic and resonant EP. Are there any lyrical or topical motifs in your writing?

The way the idea for the EP came about was, when, amidst writing the songs, I was gardening one day, when I saw a little seedling from either an ash or oak tree that had started growing in between the cracks of this concrete patio. I thought it was quite poetic and sweet for something as big as an oak tree to grow somewhere so small and unorthodox. That's where the idea for ‘Other Ways of Landing’ came about - when you're in situations where you didn't necessarily think you'd be in or that you didn't expect or want, you have to adapt to make it all work out to some extent.

I also love gardening and the ability to observe the changing of the seasons, so I had that considered when writing this album. I think we all lose touch of that beauty in our contemporary living, but I find the routine of the changes, like when things start to grow or wilt really rather beautiful. I link that all back to space and how there's this whole massive way of control that's so far beyond us. I think we are so detached from all of that because we feel like we have more control than we actually really do.

What is your favourite track to perform from your EP?

Either ‘M4 windy’ or ‘milk, blue’. For the second one, I really enjoy the vocal delivery and getting to do those high bits because I feel I can get quite lost in that and forget what I'm doing. The last one I really enjoy playing live because it's just me and I can strip everything else back.

What was the starting point for this EP?

‘windy’ was the first track that I wrote, and (easily) moved as I had as a pattern for a while, and after I fleshed that out, the other songs came about. With each song, it made increasingly more sense as a body of work.

Did you have the thought of the seasonal progression throughout the EP as you were writing or was that something you encountered afterwards?

Not at the time, I do tend to write retrospectively of the year before, which follows suit with previous pieces I've done. I prefer writing about what's just happened or in the near past, and then making sense of it after I've finished it.

Is your process lyrics first or the other way around?

Melodies come first, some songs will come out with some lyrics that I think fit perfectly with the melody. I used to write more in the moment, and some songs like ‘milk, blue’ came around in like half an hour. ‘to earth will you tell me when we land’, however, took much longer to formulate lyrics, which came from singing to myself in the garden and later stitched together. As for the first one, the lyrics came super quick after singing over the synth loop idea.

I'll write a lot when I'm gardening. I tend to have melodies and loose ideas floating about, which comes from singing to myself at work. I have over 4,000 voice notes on my phone, but I will catch it in the moment and develop an idea from there. It's quite a scattered process, but it works for me.

In three words, what can people expect from this EP?

Yearning, orbits and seedlings.

Catch Pem on their upcoming headline tour.