Pem undercuts enchanting soundscapes with emotive rawness on ‘grips.’

Taken from her coming EP ‘cloud work,’ it pushes her sound into enchantingly unfamiliar territory.

Photo: Genevieve Reeves | Words: Lloyd Bolton

Pem is a distinctive voice from Bristol’s musical landscape, combining contemporary production with richly detailed songwriting. Returning with her first new material since her 2022 debut EP ‘songs about hands,’ ‘awe’ and new single ‘grips’ push her sound beyond its bedroom rock beginnings to something enchantingly unfamiliar.

‘grips’ is a beguiling piece, accessing ethereal sonic palettes without sacrificing its human vitality. There is a folk realness to certain details, in particular her voice. Pem’s delivery is the heart of this song’s beauty, a slight vocal shake conveying a serenity on the brink of emotional collapse, perfectly carrying the repeated line, “I am going to lose it.”

As with ‘awe,’ ‘grips’ is taken from Pem’s forthcoming EP ‘cloud work,’ which releases in June with a headline gig at The Lexington to accompany it.

Written by HARD OF HEARING MUSIC