SOPHIE JAMIESON

As a young boy, my friend Nathan would often mistake the lyrics to ABBA’s seminal, Eurovision winning, pop classic Waterloo. Instead of the original’s nods to Napoleon’s surrender, over the chorus Nathan would sing “what a loo”, as if ABBA were paying tribute to a particularly pristine, porcelain potty.

There’s no danger of making that same mistake with this opening track from London based Sophie Jamieson’s debut EP, ‘where’, for a name is all it shares with the ABBA hit.

Heavy on sparse atmospherics and stripped back, raw vocals, Waterloo is a haunting ode to being lost, driven throughout by Jamieson’s powerful vocals. A delicately strummed acoustic guitar glides its way over gentle, occasional stuttering staccato percussion, evoking the rattling carriages of trains drifting through the English countryside on sombre, grey Autumnal days.

“Where are we going?” Sophie asks. I’m not sure, but on the basis of this I’d be more than happy to tag along.

Words by George Shaw

 Tipped by Tiffany Daniels of Drunken Warewolf