PIP HALL

Losing a parent is one of the hardest experiences anyone can go through in life. It’s hard enough to cope with that grief as an adult, but having someone so close to you pass at a young age is almost unimaginable to anyone who hasn’t been through it themselves.

It’s an experience that Preston singer-songwriter Pip Hall had to try and cope with though; her father passed away while she was still a child. Indeed, she has recalled how his death was often difficult to contemplate, saying that “I’d often come up with scenarios in my head that involved him being in hiding or playing a joke on us.”

Pip is now nearly 17, and has decided to help keep the memory of her father alive by naming her new EP and its title track ‘James’ after him. Built on a foundation of dreamlike synths and languid guitar riffs, it’s an understandably melancholic number where Pip sings extremely honestly about her feelings towards James.

When a little sample of a young Pip laughing with her father cuts in, it’s a moment of raw, uninhibited emotion that might just bring a tear or two to your eye. ‘James’ is obviously an incredibly personal track to Pip, but it’s also a demonstration of her great maturity as a singer and songwriter that can only continue to blossom from here.

Words by Eugenie Johnson

Tipped by Jim Cambo