Ailsa Tully - Holy Isle EP Review
Ailsa Tully's latest EP, Holy Island feels like a blessing- for peace; Tully has created something they can be proud of with their latest release; it would not surprise if Holy Isle becomes an indie cult favorite before too long.
Ailsa Tully's new EP Holy Isle is a break-up EP, but not in the way that you would expect. Her music is an exploration of empathy and connection; it explores thoughts and feelings on what it means to wish the best for a once-formative lover. The music isn't about revenge or getting hurt again; instead, Ailsa offers her listeners a chance to be empathetic with their own break-ups. The music is slow and warm, with a hint of folk-pop. There's so much feeling in her music; it feels like she really cares about the listener, suggesting they should take their time to recover from heartbreak. Ailsa Tully understands that breakups are hard and that music can be an outlet for those feelings.
With a mesmerizing and dreamy opening, the first track on the EP ‘Greedy’ immediately conjures up images of artists such as Rozi Plain or Julianna Barwick. The music is minimalistic but emotional with so much feeling in it. The track is a heart-wrenching song about love and greed. It starts out with just Ailsa's voice, but by the end of the song you can't help but become entangled in her haunting melodies that grow louder as they progress through modal interchange.
'Sheets' the second track on the EP, has a calming feel to it that will satisfy anyone looking for music with light melodies. There's something about this song which feels like warm hugs; Ailsa Tully wants her listeners to know that this track is about trying to be still and accepting what's going on.
'Holy Isle', the third song on the EP, and it is about as atmospheric as you can get - but in this case atmosphere does not mean that there isn't any feeling to be found here; Ailsa Tully explores her feelings of anger through music with an energy like no other. The music on this track, like many others on the EP, is so joyfully warm.
This music has a cathartic nature to it, with the tracks seemingly having helped Ailsa Tully process the break-up in a way which allowed her to deal with negative emotions and turn them into something that she can finally know as positive.
The last song on the EP, 'Your Mess', offers listeners an opportunity for peace; this song is one of the most sombre tracks on the EP but lyrically has a strong sense of optimism.
When music is this emotive, it's hard not to feel something.
The EP has a sense of warmth and nostalgia that can't be found elsewhere; the music on Holy Island makes you want to stay in bed with someone special or curl up by yourself- whatever your heart desires. The music here feels like a home for all who have been through a difficult break up. There's a strong sense of support in Tully's music and lyricism and it will be interesting to see how the artist evolves from this point. The music is beautifully composed and the production on Holy Island really accentuates that.
Ailsa Tully's latest EP, Holy Isle feels like a blessing- for peace; Tully has created something they can be proud of with their latest release; it would not surprise me if Holy Island becomes an indie cult favourite before too long. This is an EP not to be missed by anyone who loves music that speaks to the soul and heals the heart. I hope this will be a piece of music you'll want to revisit time and again, because it's just so damn good.