After stepping out as a solo artist with her debut single Marigold, Holysseus Fly vocalist, co-writer and pianist from critically acclaimed Ishmael Ensemble drops her second single, Within The Water.

She wrote the song in a few days from an improvised session with Jay-Z sampled Bristol pianist, James Graham. She sampled and then looped a section of the session and wrote a powerful vocal about rebirth into self love. Holysseus Fly’s strong vocal boldly tells a story of hope against a backdrop of watery piano textures.

Words from Holysseus:

“I was having a recurring dream that my mouth was full of grit. At the time I was struggling with my emotions after treatment for cancer, not speaking about them. Keeping them to myself. I wrote this song as part of my rebirth. A declaration of my determination to love myself and to speak my truth. The repeating lyric “loving you has been my greatest fear” is an admission that I needed to accept and voice these feelings in order to move forward. Similarly “I hope one day we will turn around, see what it made of me”, is my intention to look back with pride at how my cancer journey has made me who I am. I had to dig deep and confront these difficult feelings to arise from the depths of the ocean and float in the water.”

Holysseus Fly stepped out as a solo artist with her debut single Marigold in September 2022. Detailing her struggle and triumph in finding a new creative identity after surviving cancer, ‘Marigold’ was selected as Jamz Supernova’s 6Music Track of the Day and supported by Annie Mac. She sold out her first headline shows in Bristol and London, in October 2022. The follow up single ‘Within The Water’ was released on Severn Songs on April 7th. With Ishmael Ensemble, Holysseus Fly has enjoyed critical acclaim with 6Music Album of the Year, Guardian Album of the Month, and a dream slot on Glastonbury’s West Holts stage.

‘Within The Water’, holds the listener in a way few songs can. Featuring piano and organ from James Graham (Hannah Williams & The Affirmations), produced with Rob Pemberton (The Staves) and mixed by Iain Berryman (Wolf Alice/ Florence & The Machine/Beabadoobe). Holysseus Fly’s breathtaking vocal creates a unique blend with, romantic sultry piano and dark minimal textures. A true statement of intent from a deeply expressive artist with a big future.

Artwork by Giulia Spadafora