Crooked words #17: Sofia Wolfson, Josaleigh Pollett, Sera Cahoone

If last week was one for anniversaries, this week is for returns, with a small handful of artists sharing their first new music in a while; a mix of subtle glows and early summer hues.

Shared today, 'Obviously' is the first new music in a couple of years from the excellent Sofia Wolfson, who's following up 2024's Imposing On A Hometown LP with a brand new single. A tightrope walk between life's ups and downs, new song 'Obviously' is a detailed and wholesome three-and-a-half minutes, Wolfson's voice – always carrying a sense of yearning – joined by some lovely accompanying guitar courtesy of Harrison Whitford (Phoebe Bridgers).

The song is also accompanied by cover art courtesy of Michael Northrup, specifically a 1992 photograph taken from his archive. "I've written a lot of music and prose in response to his photographs," Sofia says. "Getting to work with his archive is a surreal honor."

It's a match that makes sense. Much like the accompanying photograph, and Northrup's wider body of work, there's a dreamlike quality to 'Obviously' that seems to shimmer just beneath the surface, a charm that feels enticing in a way you can't really place no matter how you hold the light to it.

Someone else making their return today is Josaleigh Pollett, the Salt Lake City songwriter who has been a firm favourite of GFP since we feel head over heels for their wonderful 2023 LP, In The Garden, By The Weeds.

Last year we heard new song 'Radio Player', and the song now takes its place alongside brand new single 'The Witness' on Pollett's new album If I Let It Quiet, announced today for a July 24th release via Audio Antihero.

There's a dreamlike quality here too, though it feels a little more pronounced with Pollett's voice carrying a sense of strange displacement that feels wholly captivating. Indeed, "I keep feeling like I’m getting to the party just when everyone is leaving" Pollett sings with a sense of resignation that burrows its way from their chest to our's.

Frayed at the edges, heavy in its heart, the overall feeling it casts is something both familiar but also somewhat skewed; a bold leap forward that we're very much looking forward to following.

Finally, last week saw the return of Seattle singer-songwriter, musician, and producer Sera Cahoone who has re-signed to Sub Pop, with "plans to release her new music in 2026 and beyond."

Having played drums in the cult lofi band Carissa's Weird before their 2003 break-up, Cahoone went on to play on Band of Horses debut record, before first signing to the Sub Pop label soon after, releasing albums of her own in 2008 and 2012, before self-releasing her next effort, 2017's From Where I Started.

Alongside her return to the label, Cahoone is also sharing a brand new song in the form of the stirring 'Say Something'. Shaped by a gorgeous backing of guitar, piano, and Hammond organ, the rich-n-swaying ballad finds Cahoone singing with a well-worn smile flickering at the edges, a flash of light that balances the heavy-hearted nature of the lyrics.

Framing a portrait of strained but wholly vital domesticity, Cahoone's voice is full of tenderness, holding a sense of yearning that is palpable in the weight it carries. "Been workin’ all day until the sky is black / But honey you know I wanna try," Cahoone sings, as the song rolls forward towards the setting sun "'Cause this whole year I haven't been myself / But oh my God I wanna try,"

Thank you for reading / enjoy listening...