Swimming Bell – Somnia

Today, Katie Schottland aka Swimming Bell releases her latest EP, Somnia on Perpetual Doom. Her lovely voice lulls the listener, as promised by the title, and the entire record feels like “Song to the Siren,” even sight and pen name unseen.

Lush pedal steel understatedly adds depth to the dreamlike synth scales on the opening track, “Meet My Shadow,” Schottland’s voice stirs like the tide.

The dream continues with “95 at Night,” Tyler English’s steel less understated and shimmering alongside lacy acoustic strums.

“Found it at the Bottom of the Ocean” drags the listener deeper under the current, at this point no longer wishing to return to the surface and the land of mere mortals.

“Mushrooms in July” is the most Buckley-esque, from her cadence to the chord changes, I feel it must be a direct homage, a psychedelic, updated version of the classic. Her layered vocals are simply hypnotic. It is an epic capstone to the EP.

Katie says of the record, “I wanted to create a feeling of sinking into water, where everything is softened and suspended. Given all the stress and tension in the world, I wanted a nostalgic escape—something hypnotic and transportive, creating movement within stillness.” And that she indeed achieved.

Also of note, Katie lends her gorgeous voice to Bobby Lee and Joe Harvey Whyte’s single “Smoke Signals,” from their debut record Last Ride, also out today on Curation Records. What a great day for music.

Get Somnia on Bandcamp today.