Bethany Barrie is an artist with her finger firmly on the pulse of human experience. The Scottish singer-songwriter’s debut EP is an acutely delicate observation of the human mind. Entitled ‘from therapy, with love’, it conveys a deeply personal reflection on the fragility of emotion. Unafraid to plunge dark depths but always in sight is a light of hope above.
Grounded in the Folk tradition of her homeland but mixed with contemporary pop, the five tracks included here express raw songwriting whilst growing out of a firm sense of place. Think Gabrielle Aplin meets Kate Rusby and you get the essence of Barrie’s style. Opening track ‘Left Behind’ exquisitely captures this combination. Its letter-to-self premise gorgeously wrought amidst Mhairi Marwick’s fiddle and Chris Amer’s guitar. That splash of hope in “see[ing] colours again / not just black and white” permeating through the rest of the EP.
‘Sinking’ lays bare the emotional turmoil of separation and the refusal to accept reality for fear of doing exactly that. It is honesty at its most profound, wrapped in painful fiddle, cautious double bass, and heartrending acoustic guitar. Very different from ‘Been Here Before’, whose “positive percussion and uplifting violin” breathe a greater freedom into the record but without diluting the sincerity of the grand narrative. Just a change in style.
‘Anxiety’ then resets the record to a more stripped back melody. Ideal, in this instance, for the personification of its subject. It bears a quietly painful acceptance of “her” existence, “liv[ing] rent free inside my head”. The simplicity in which the lyrics arc is touching; in their construction, apt. The lines “Just trying to get on with my day / the obstacle that’s in my way” a perfect surmise of life with this condition.
Final track ‘Better Now’ ensures that the EP ends on a note of hope and freedom. The result of working through the ridiculous weight of expectation to find, on the other side, that we don’t have to have it all figured out. The lightness of the fiddle and percussive joy add to this wonderful realisation. The subtle presence of a liquid faith confirming a foundation from which to build:
“I could taste grace in the water / cold no longer / things are so much better now”
The song leaves its listener with these lines amidst a whistling positivity. Symbolic of a warm Highland breeze. A place of perspective from which Bethany Barrie has related such intimate experiences. Creating one of my favourite records of 2025 in the process.
Featured Image (C) lizbeth haro
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