Georgia Harmer Eye of the Storm LP (Gold Vinyl)

Georgia Harmer's Eye of the Storm is an exercise in vulnerability, an empathetic exchange between past and future selves, and a deep breath of life into the veins of relationships over time. Where her debut, Stay in Touch, chronicled introspection and growth, the heart of Eye of the Storm lies in the deeper matter of self-realization and understanding. It seeks to answer questions of what to carry, what to leave behind, and what to follow forward.

This album is an older sister to Georgia's debut, and like an older sister, it contains the insight of someone who has learned that the weight of the whole world doesn't have to rest on her shoulders. It captures first-time feelings in the rearview mirror, with a depth of understanding and intuition only possessed by someone who's spent years paying very close attention.

Self-produced with a steady hand, Eye of the Storm is raw and detailed. Listen for the creaks of living room chairs, the soft echoes of a back alley garage, or the earliest seeds of ideas, brought to life on front porches and in backyard studios. Georgia's songs are inlaid to a lush world, where every sound is an intentional character, and every arrangement is a house built to last.

Recorded and arranged with Dylan Burchell, Julian Psihogios, Ben Whiteley, Oliver LaMantia, Jasper Smith, Matt Kelly and Gavin Gardiner, Georgia has constructed an album that simultaneously recalls the setting it was captured in, and creates an entirely new world with a history of its own. You can hear the brain-child of a group of people who took tremendous care to bring this music to life. These relationships are elemental to the heart and performance of every song, and to the recording and documentation of the entire album. Each track captures the way music can sound when you make it with your most trusted confidants, when ideas are given space to breathe, and when you have a precise yet evolving vision, and you don't give up until it comes to life.

[Title track] 'Eye of the Storm' offers more of the gentle, thoughtful, approachable folk-rock that makes Harmer so consistently enjoyable. It reminds me of the Staves — without the vocal harmonies, of course — or other Britons like Billie Marten and Laura Marling.