Canadian singer-songwriter Jennah Barry ruminates on the swooning “Big Universe”

While preparing to release her second album Holiday, coming eight years after her debut, the time in between has seen Jennah Barry have a child and go through emergency vocal surgery, while also having time to meditate on some of life’s big questions. From this comes “Big Universe”, the third song we’ve heard from the record.

“I needed to know what to do,” she says. “I’ve always experimented with my spirituality.” With her lyricism, Barry ties loose imagery together to form a cosmic landscape, one in which both those big questions and their answers lie. “Make a mountain out on the thin ice / See yourself climb to the top,” she sings. And from that vantage point, in the chorus, she pleads: “Make it easy, 'Big Universe'”.

The track feels like a sepia-toned image of another time, conjuring visions of a smoky ballroom held in rapture. Barry’s voice, soulful and captivating, weaves amongst a gentle backing of acoustic and slide guitar, strings and elegant horns.

“I wanted people to feel very far away, and lonely but okay with it,” she says. “I make Grand Canyons in my brain I can’t escape. The only time I can write about it is when I find a way out. The whole record is about ruminating.”

Catch Jennah Barry live in May at FOCUS Wales from 7th-9th, 10th at Glasgow's Broadcast, 12th at Durham's Old Cinema Launderette, and 13th at Castle Hotel in Manchester.