Track By Track: SHELLS on her Shapes EP

Jailbird

The first song I wrote in a session as SHELLS. I loved playing with different sounds and instruments on this track. It’s about feeling trapped, and the journey of the escape!

“I'm burning down the walls the light up the front door / tearing down the halls to see the light once more / not gonna be a Jailbird anymore."

Gold

"Gold" was the reference for the soundscape and production of Shapes. It was the first song I wrote on the EP. I made a home demo with cellos, French horns, warm synths, and lots of vocal harmonies which I knew I wanted to feature throughout. It laid the foundation on which the final EP was built. It's about overcoming challenges in a relationship by seeing the unconditional love in everyone, which I called 'gold'.

Jagwar

The mood of "Jagwar" is very different to "Jailbird", but it’s within a similar acoustic landscape with their strings, French horns, space and harmonies. They share similar meanings too: “I make a bad, bad prisoner”. "Jagwar", like "Jailbird", is about liberation.

Fly

"Fly" is about the freedom you feel when you give yourself completely and unconditionally to something or someone that you love. It was inspired by a poem about a woman giving different parts of her body to her garden. It made me think about how, what and why we give ourselves to the people and things that we love. This became the inspiration for "Fly".