Polly Paulusma - Wildfires

28.2.25 - BLACK VINYL LP X 3

Wildfires is the sixth studio album from English singer songwriter Polly Paulusma.

Across nearly two hours and six sides of vinyl, folk instrumentation is peppered with spoken word poetry prologues amid sounds from caves and rivers.

The album's artful presentation is the hallmark of producer Ethan Johns (Ray Lamontagne/Laura Marling/Ryan Adams), and as such presents a step change in Paulusma's until now largely autonomous catalogue.

Polly Paulusma bares all amidst a collection of textured acoustic guitars and rich, layered melodic flourishes. Wildfires is mellow and cosy in its production, but its honesty is bittersweet - an intimate and reflective rumination on love's many guises, the easy parts as well as the hard.

As always, Paulusma's articulate and emotive lyrics, and her ability to convey the deepest vulnerability with vivid, sometimes nostalgic, imagery is astounding here.

The album, as filled with delicate earworms as it is with expressive poetry, burns slowly but no less fiercely and, like love, it can be gentle, it can envelope one completely, and occasionally it can be heart-wrenching.