Beetlebug ended
2023 by opening up a new chapter for a growing fan community which has fallen for her gently escapist songcraft and tales of youthful, coming-of-age experiences. The single
‘until the end’ demonstrated the artistic growth that she had experienced since her prior releases almost 18 months earlier, while a headline set at
The Courtyard Theatre showed that her online following is eager to make an in-person connection too. Now
Beetlebug continues her story with the new single
‘embers’.
LISTEN HERE.Shining like a diamond in the dust, ‘embers’ complements Beetlebug’s dreamily serene songwriting with a luscious but still natural production. Full of soothing, swooning vocal harmonies, gently strummed acoustics and twinkling percussion, the music provides a perfectly tranquil backdrop to her touching lyrics. Its lyrics explore the feelings that arise when someone returns to your life just as unexpectedly as they had drifted away. And while it’s Valentine’s Day, ‘embers’ is really a song that can applied to all times of relationships.
Beetlebug says, “‘embers’ is a song about reignition; a celebration of a slowly evolving, remembered tenderness. It navigates the warmth found within a connection buried by time only to be discovered once again, through glittering vibraphones and wistful guitar melodies.”
As with the rest of her songs to date, ‘embers’ was solely written and produced by Beetlebug.
Beetlebug – real name Auri Hanford – writes songs full of personality, quirks and class, and first lured people into her distinct world with enchanting songs such as ‘overgrown garden’ (perfect as an alternate unofficial soundtrack to ‘Stardew Valley’) and ‘cat serenade’ (a romance viewed from a four-legged, big-whiskered perspective). Her following emerged just as naturally as her songs do, so far leading to 16 million streams to date at Spotify, 100,000+ followers at YouTube, and shows with Lovejoy, Henry Moodie and The Vamps.
Beetlebug has played music since childhood and you can see just how much it transports her somewhere else, whether she’s caught in the moment of playing her own songs or sharing comfortably cosy takes on songs by Beabadoobee, Maya Hawke, Kate Bush and Radiohead. You can hear touches of some her her favourite artists in her work – Gorillaz, Jack Johnson, Nat King Cole, Haley Heynderickx, Mac De Marco and Adrianne Lenker / Big Thief – but really she’s her own artist: one with a pure, crystalline voices that expresses a moving, otherworldly influence. After her set at last year’s Live At Leeds, Louder Than War succinctly summarised her as “a truly beautiful soul.”
