Spotlight On... Selkie

It’s rare that an artist comes along and immediately captures your attention, but that’s exactly what happened when we heard the delicate and otherworldly Heartspeak from Selkie towards the end of last year. The Scottish ambient pop artist got in touch about the single when she was in Japan where she was playing shows at the time. Next she’d go to Chile, then Mexico, all the time honing her craft and developing her music.

At the end of this month, Selkie releases her debut EP, inWaves; six gorgeous tracks that ebb and flow, where space is just as important as the instrumentation itself. With a launch show at The Glad Cafe just around the corner, we catch up with Selkie to talk influences, travel, the importance of slowing down, practising mindfulness and the evolution of her music.

There are so many things I want to ask about the EP, but first, I'm keen to know what artists inspired you to start making your own music and would you say the same artists inspire your work now, or do you look elsewhere for inspiration these days?
In my early years it was music videos on TV by Kate Bush, Madonna, Björk, Prince, and in particular, Stay by Shakespears Sister stands out as one of my earliest favourites. I had a tiny toy keyboard and I remember, even back then, being drawn to the soft twinkly music box tone which is so similar to the sounds I still use now in my music.

I think I just loved music in general. I was very shy growing up, so it was a surprise when one day I told my mum and my teacher that I wanted to sing a song in the school talent contest, and instead of knowing exactly what I wanted to sing, I was like: “Let me hear all the options! Everything I don’t know already, to find the right song!” I asked my teacher to record a perfectly cheesy backing track with her Casio keyboard for me (it ended up being My Guy by Mary Wells, haha).

Beyond that, I started with guitar until I discovered Tori Amos [and] Fiona Apple, and introduced myself to the piano at college. These days, I’m not listening to a lot of music and if I do it’s music that’s been in my library for at least ten years. At home we often have Japanese ambient music and handpan playlists in the background.

We first spoke over email towards the end of last year when you released Heartspeak. You were in Japan at the time. A lot of your forthcoming EP was written and shaped while you were travelling, so I’d love to know more about your travels and what it was like for you taking your music on the road, developing it while you weren’t tied to one place?
I think the fact I was travelling so much is what helped me to start getting this music out into the world and feeling like I was creating something that could move me as well as others. Japan was my most special treat. I had plenty of opportunities to perform and see local musicians and everyone was supportive and doing their own really interesting things. I loved how audiences stay silent during performances and remain in the venue to listen to all artists on the bill. I think that really helped to build my confidence in the music I was beginning to share, and it gave me consistent motivation to keep creating and trying new things, and to complete recorded music and release it at a quicker pace than I was before I went there.

As well working on it while you were travelling, you say the EP was “developed during a period when speaking, and even breathing, felt fragile”. That fragility really comes through in the music, so I’d love to know more about what happened, how and why you used music-making as a way to reconnect with your body?
I had been making and performing my own music for as long as I was able, and as adulthood took hold I lost time for it, until I eventually had a mental break that depleted my energy and I lost my ability to breathe comfortably. I struggled with breathing and talking daily for around one year, and lived a very small, quiet life with a tiny voice. Every single day during that period was built around breathing and mindfulness exercises, just to try and get through each minute.

Slowing down so much gave me the opportunity to notice every small, beautiful detail in any moment. I was often deeply entangled in whatever the weather was doing – the moon, light, air, plants, river – and I started to sit at my window watching the sky at different times of day or night while playing piano, until eventually things started to soften. And when things were soft enough, I started to write and sing again. New music was coming to me in my sleep and songs arrived almost fully formed as I went about my day. That’s when some of the songs for Selkie started.

The EP feels like a true labour of love and patience, with previous single Hours beginning its journey back in 2019. In a world where music feels so rushed a lot of the time, it’s refreshing to see an artist embracing this slower process. How did the song evolve over the years and how did you settle on its final form?
Hours began as an experiment using library electronic beats and loops all cut into pieces and meshed together, which sounded immediately exciting for me having previously made my music with only guitar or piano. But the more time I spent with it, refining it, I realised I wanted to make it feel like it came even more from me and started combining the digital sounds with my own acoustic recordings of voice and guitar, replacing and changing the loops with synth patterns and pads I created on my own.

There was absolutely no reference when making this track. I just dove deep into the wild of endless sounds and effects to see what could happen. It’s one of the earliest tracks I started performing live, so it had more chances to evolve being influenced by any new songs I was working on and seeing how others perform their electronic music live. I guess I just came to a point where I felt stuck on it and wanted to move forward, but I do love where it’s 'ended'.

Your intent is really felt on EP opener Dream Wheels, pulling the listener into your world. It’s a gorgeous ambient piece that really envelopes the listener and demands close listening – when the vocals kick in, it feels like such a release, like you’re really letting go, so I’d love to know more about the song?
Thank you! This piece came from the ether. I had created many elements of the track a while back and rediscovered it last year whilst checking through my old files. I immediately added it to my set as a sort of improvisation and it just felt like it belonged. I’ve been opening my shows with it ever since and it felt natural to open the EP with it. This plays into the title of the EP – the way the songs came to me at one point, went away and then came back again.

The EP closes with the next single, Lick the Sun, described as “a small celebration of reawakening”. I’d love to know more about this song and why you chose it to close the record?
I decided on the tracklist before I’d even completed recording and producing all the songs. Before the drums were added, I had a feeling Lick the Sun would feel like a dance into the sun and be a good way to end the otherwise downtempo EP. The song is about living with a renewed sense of energy and I wanted the end of the EP to feel like it could just be the beginning of something exciting.

You play with a lot of textural elements across the EP that often feels rich and full, but it’s clear that sparsity is just as important – how do you learn/practise this kind of less is more restraint?
Honestly, just hours of experimenting and not being able to get something to sound quite right, so instead I like to remove elements rather than add more to make something hit. Plus it’s easier to digest when everything is stripped back and to add only what feels necessary.

Ahead of the EP’s release at the end of the month, you’re playing a launch show at The Glad Cafe – what can people expect on the night?
I’ll be performing new and old bits and pieces as well as the EP from start to finish. I’m bringing my acoustic and electric guitars as well as my digital box of atmosphere and rhythm (i.e. my laptop). I’ve been working on some new visual ideas with my wife to fully envelop everyone in the world of the record, so I’m hoping it feels less like simply playing through the songs and more like stepping inside inWaves for an evening.

Ayu Okakita is opening too. She’s here from Japan touring the UK and I’m so thrilled she is able to make a detour to Glasgow to join us for the night. Her music has such a beautiful, immersive quality, and it feels like a very natural pairing for the night.

And what does the rest of the year have in store for Selkie?
I’m planning my first UK tour! I’m excited to get out and play in some new places. I have a lot of fun making the visuals to go with my music too, so I’m hoping to put together music videos for the EP songs that don’t already have one. I already have some ideas brewing.

I’ve also had in mind a companion EP to inWaves, to flush out all the ideas I had during this whole early era of the project, so I’ll begin recording those by the end of the year with an aim to release in early 2027. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

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inWaves is out on 28 Aug; Selkie plays The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, 25 Aug – tickets

Follow Selkie on Instagram @selkiesound