Spotlight On... Josephine Sillars

Last week, Leeds-based Scottish Highlander and Popgirlz lecturer Josephine Sillars released her deeply personal new EP, The Loveliest Things Change. Sillars explores a plethora of pop sounds across its six tracks, which she describes as a collection of songs that sums up your early 20s. In this week's Spotlight On..., Sillars tells us about the challenges of turning trauma into art and how finally releasing these songs has freed up the space for her to move on to the next chapter of her musical career.

It’s been three years since you released Desperate Characters, which had quite a political throughline. The Loveliest Things Change feels like quite the departure, appearing to be a much more personal record – can you tell us about the evolution of your sound?
This record is definitely a lot more personal; over the past few years, I’ve been experimenting with a more electronic style and working with new producers. I also have learnt a bit of production myself and co-produced this EP alongside Jay Taylor. Even though my sound has evolved to a more electro/synth-pop space these days, I’m still really inspired by art-pop and anti-folk musicians, and lyrically I definitely take inspiration from my singer-songwriter roots.

You say the EP is a collection of songs that sums up your early 20s – how do you go about turning such a complex time period into music?
My early 20s – as I’m sure is the case with a lot of people – was a very tumultuous time. I actually started writing the songs that became this EP back in 2019, but with the pandemic, I ended up shelving a lot of it, and since then I’ve had a couple of EPs and single releases out. So the writing for this EP wasn’t a conscious effort like my last EP projects have been – but I think it needed to be that way, because as you’ve said, your early 20s are usually a complex time and so I needed a lot of space and a lot of time to sit with these songs. There were also a bunch that didn’t make the cut!

Writing this EP has been a really interesting experience because my sound has really evolved since 2019, so most of these songs have been on a journey from when they were initially written. I’ve also been feeling that mentally I’ve been struggling to move on from these songs. Releasing this EP feels really good, as it’s like the space in my head that they were occupying has finally cleared, so I can begin thinking about new music and let people enjoy them.

One of the EPs standouts is That Boy, a song about your experiences of an abusive relationship. What was this process like for you?
Thank you – I am really proud of this song. It was actually written as a part of a writing workshop I did with Becci Wallace (SongSeeds) and originally it was very, very simple – basically an a capella piece with only layered vocals and drums. It wasn’t actually too different to write, I think it only took me about an hour or so to get the lyrics down but then the recording and production took ages. Again, the song really developed from when it was initially written to the final release – shoutout to Jordan Round (Apollo On The Run), who is a really great producer in Bristol who produced the final track.

Unfortunately, I was in an abusive relationship in my early 20s, and it really shaped those years for me. However, I have had a lot of time to process everything and this song really feels like the culmination of a lot of healing. When reflecting on those times, the thing that has remained the most interesting to me was the justification that people use for really terrible (and also illegal) behaviour. Unfortunately with abusive people, there’s often a cognitive dissonance between their behaviour and their view of themselves, and so the person, despite acting in terrible ways, won’t be able to take responsibility for them.

There’s a sense of justification – which is what got me thinking about The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg, as that book is really all about exploring these ideas of justified sin, with the main character being one of the elect, and what that does to a person's psyche. The song definitely covers a lot, from these ideas of justification, to gaslighting and taking responsibility. Unfortunately we are in a position where we don’t have a lot of support from the justice system, and the court of public opinion remains powerful against people who have been through experiences like mine. It does feel quite cathartic to have it released, but this song was definitely a more challenging process. I'm really glad people like it.

What sort of challenges do you come up against when creating art out of such personal and serious topics?
The main challenge I would say is just that it can be a really emotional process – which is the main reason it’s taken me a while to get this released. I care a lot about lyrics and spend a great deal of time on them, and with this EP being so personal, it was challenging to keep the songs true to their meaning, but also to try and make them accessible. I think that’s just a challenge with songwriting in general – finding that balance between saying what you mean, but allowing space for people to put their own meanings into it too. In a way, I think it’s harder to write in this more confessional style, as it leaves you feeling quite vulnerable.

Can you tell us about what inspired some of the other songs on the record?
So there’s definitely a literary theme running through this EP – as well as James Hogg, Alasdair Gray was also a big inspiration, in particular for the track Move Higher. I think of the songs That Boy, Unknown and Move Higher as being like a little trilogy. They are all inspired from my more negative experiences, but also literature – I think because I was studying Scottish Literature during my early 20s a lot of my experiences are muddled up with fiction I enjoyed at the time. Unknown was partly inspired by a friend, a writer who went through a really difficult time, and it's playing more to that idea of the court of public opinion. The song Belleisle, on the other hand, was written right after I moved away from Glasgow and feels like a bittersweet love song/breakup song to the Southside where I lived.

Slow was written in a writing session with my band, and at the time it honestly felt like a cry for help because I was experiencing a massive burn-out in 2023. However, the song is super summery and I really liked that juxtaposition between having really fun and upbeat music vs lyrics that are basically saying 'I need help'. This is a lesson I have had to learn the hard way, and I feel like me learning tough lessons is an overall narrative that the EP explores.

Going right back to the beginning of the record, can you tell us how the 20 second Pop Trash intro came about and the idea behind it?
Haha, so this little intro was a bit of fun that we made for my artist residency I had last year. I was the Artist in Residence at Vinyl Whistle in Leeds from March to June 2023, and I called the residency Pop Trash to celebrate women, non-binary and trans artists working in electro-pop. I was able to platform around 15 other artists through this residency, and it was so much fun. We made this little intro to play at the start of each residency show and we have gotten so used to hearing it before Slow that it honestly felt disingenuous to not include it on the EP.

Finally, what does the rest of the year have in store for you?
I have some headline shows coming later in the year that I’m hoping to announce soon! The next year for me though is going to be really focused on writing – I would like to put an album out next, so I’m trying to get my head down and focus on that. For live shows, as I imagine is the case for a lot of independent artists, we are being really affected by the cost-of-living crisis, and so we’re having to be a lot more selective. But on a positive note – that also means I can really focus and make the headlines I have later in the year really special. More on that soon!

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The Loveliest Things Change is out now

instagram.com/josephinesillars