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 analyses 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.

Continuing her streak of working with some of the industry's most in-demand producers, for Cut a Figure she teamed up with Chris Coady, whose credits include revered albums from Foals, Slowdive, Beach House, Future Islands and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

"He was in the upper echelon of people I wanted to work with, and I'd considered him to be very out of my league as a producer," Atwell says with a laugh.

Atwell has long been known for the emotional acuity in her songs, tackling complicated subjects such as family strife, heartache and resentment with astonishing sensitivity.

On Cut a Figure, though, she turns the magnifying glass on herself, to discover that her own way of dealing with emotions - perhaps most crucially, with anger - has evolved.

Take first single 'The Act', a brilliantly moody, Eighties-leaning pop track written while Awell was living in Quebec.