As the year begins to wind down, so the release of Rebecca Richards’ EP feels timely. ‘New Yesterdays’ is a slow-tempo, ballad-based set of tracks that mark the turn into a season of reflection. Each of the six songs on the record feel like Autumn leaves: shaded with different-coloured emotions that emerge at relationships’ end. They fall into one another in a steady motion, the brown lament of opening track ‘Unluckiest of Hearts’ drifting into the red wrestling of ‘New Yesterdays’ and the yellow yearning of ‘Just Say’.

Their softness is given definition in Rebecca’s vocals, which in some way belie the strength of attitude in her narratives. ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ in particular presents an incongruent mix of defiant lyrics encased in an easy listening sound. There are echoes of Dusty Springfield here, as well as Gretchen Peters on ‘Memories Don’t Know’ and Laura Marling on ‘Overthinking’. This crossover of genres – Country, Folk, Jazz – infused with Blues throughout, is underpinned by a stripped-back presentation that encapsulates the quiet tragedy and beauty of autumnal change. For while there is sadness in the fact that “I can’t unlearn… unwalk… unsmile… unvow”, there is also empowerment in “going back to be the girl from way back when”.

This gentle pathos in its seasoned rhythm means that ‘New Yesterdays’ expresses a confidence in its exploration of relationships that comes from experience. It extinguishes the forever flame with genuine remorse while also acknowledging the potential that can come from the supposed death of love. As such, Rebecca Richards offers the sort of hope that comes with the season. The possibility of change and transformation.

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Featured Image (C) Rebecca Richards