Bess Atwell

Sometimes we have to leave what we know behind in order to find ourselves. For British artist Bess Atwell, a spontaneous move to Canada, where she lived for nine months, proved the catalyst for one of her most vividly realised, honest albums to date. Cut a Figure, her fourth record, doesn’t just trace the outlines; it digs deep as Atwell analyzes a lifetime’s worth of relationships, decisions, and motivations.

To make such an album, she had to abandon some of the creative processes that had become second nature. “The songs I really enjoyed performing from my last record were the rare moments where I put down any instruments, and it was just me singing to my audience, which can be a bit scary,” she says, referring to 2024’s Aaron Dessner-produced Light Sleeper. “But those were the songs that seemed to connect the most, and where I felt most free to actually live with the song and what it was about.”

She reclaims it all on "Tonight I Am Allowed," enveloped by looping textures of piano, analogue synths, and shimmering drum patterns. “I’m tired of acting,” she sings, “Like it’s gone wrong when maybe/ This is just how they made me/ And I become what I was.” Atwell’s voice is as beautiful as ever, but there’s a palpable defiance in the way she sings here, as though she’s physically pushing back against the masks society has forced her to wear for most of her life: “This is just the way I am.” It’s a powerful phrase, and one that echoes throughout this extraordinary record.