Sophie Hosken-Taylor‘s voice is smoky, breathy, and shaky. A tentative, beautiful sound. The sound of pure potential.
Sophie Hosken-Taylor performed around the South West for two years before she moved to London looking for a bigger audience. She names Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Amy MacDonald and Jose Vanders as her inspirations.
When I wrote my song, Breathe, the only other song I knew with the same title was one by Pink Floyd. Needless to say, no one would ever confuse the two songs. Now, with so many great songs out there with the same name, if I wrote Breathe today, I wouldn’t call it that. But it doesn’t matter that Sophie Hosken-Taylor gave the title track of her self-produced CD a popular name. The song is such a lovely wash of acoustic guitar and airy vocals, it’s unique. And besides, what’s more important than breathing?
Breathe
Many days I find myself asking, who am I?
Everyday I stare at the mirror,
And wonder who is looking back.
Is it a shadow?
Is it a ghost?
Is it someone I used to know?
And then it hits me…
I’m staring at me.
And I can’t breathe,
I can’t see.
I can’t breathe,
Without you holding me up,
Up against it all.
Too many times I’ve locked myself away,
In exile I’ve stayed.
Now I’m trapped in my own mind and I’m scared,
It’s here I’ll stay.
Will I come back?
Escape from it all?
Can I be what I used to be and let it all,
Blow away?
I can’t breathe,
I can’t see.
I can’t breathe,
Without you holding me up,
Up against it all.
And if I could I’d stop it from ever happening.
And I wish I could let it slide and fade away.
I can’t breathe,
I can’t see.
I can’t breathe,
Without you holding me up,
Up against it all.
Vocals, Guitar, Drums performed by Sophie Hosken-Taylor.
Bass performed by Ashley Poulton.
To listen to Breathe in its entirety, go here. To listen to It Could Have Been Worse, go here. To be a super cool person, like Sophie on fb.
To see what convinced me of that one day Sophie Hosken-Taylor will not have to seek her audience because they will be looking for her, click on the picture below.