After the release of her new album Light Sleeper Bess Atwell has shared the LP’s latest single “I Am Awake”. Produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, Ben Howard, Sharon Van Etten, Ed Sheeran), Light Sleeper with additional instrumentation throughout from Big Thief‘s James Krivchenia, Beirut’s Ben Lanz, and frequent Sufjan Stevens-collaborator James McAlister, and Dessner himself.

Atwell will play a series of intimate live shows in June including a sold-out London’s Union Chapel, Bristol’s Thekla, and Manchester’s converted cinema venue Band On The Wall. These intimate surroundings should prove the ideal match for these exposing, quietly fearless songs of self-exploration. These shows will be followed by support slots with The National in June & July and a newly announced UK headline tour in support of the album release, including a run of dates in October and London’s KOKO in February ’25. In support of the release and ahead of the tour she will do a run of in-store events.

Speaking about Light Sleeper, she said, “My album ‘Light Sleeper’ is out! I’ve never been so excited to share something I’ve made. I have too much to say that it’s hard to say anything at all. This album records a difficult and reflective time in my life. So much has changed over the last couple of years and I’ve learnt and unlearned an awful lot. It’s really all in the music if you listen carefully. I guess that’s why us songwriters write? So we don’t have to say anything at all. But of course I will.

“Light Sleeper is all about learning to be brave. While writing the album, I was realising that somewhere along the line I had become very afraid of feeling and I wanted to find the courage to face what it was I was so scared of, to face myself. The record spans a break up, a new love, mental health crises, the prelude to a diagnosis that would help me better understand myself – forgive myself. It faces harsh realities of familial history and the struggle of loving people who are in pain. But with all of this, really, the album aims to celebrate the joy of feeling, feeling it all, and trusting that it won’t break you.”

Bess Atwell 2024 Live

in-store dates:

25 May | Oxford | Truck
26 May | Bristol | Rough Trade
27 May | Nottingham | Rough Trade
28 May | Leeds | Jumbo
29 May | Liverpool | Rough Trade
23 May | London | Rough Trade East

Tour Dates

06 June | Manchester, UK | Band On The Wall
07 June | London, UK | Union Chapel SOLD OUT
08 June | Bristol, UK | Thekla
25 June | Vienna, AT | Stadthalle w/ The National
27 June | Bonn, DE | Kunstirasen w/ The National
11 July | Edinburgh, UK | Edinburgh Castles w/ The National
02 October | Norwich, UK | Arts Centre
03 October | Cambridge, UK | Junction 2
04 October | Nottingham, UK | Rescue Rooms
05 October | Leeds, UK | Belgrave Music Hall
06 October | Newcastle, UK | The Cluny
08 October | Glasgow, UK | St. Luke’s
09 October | Liverpool, UK | Leaf
11 October | Belfast, UK | The Black Box
12 October | Dublin, IRE | The Grand Social
15 October | Cardiff, UK | Clwb Ifor Bach
16 October | Birmingham, UK | Hare & Hounds
17 October | Oxford, UK | The Bullingdon
18 October | Brighton, UK | Concorde 2
22 February 2025 | London, UK | KOKO

Bess Atwell
Light Sleeper
Tracklist
Real Kind Records

1. Everyone Who’s Not In Love With You Is Wrong
2. Release Myself
3. Sylvester
4. Fan Favourite
5. The Weeping
6. Something Now
7. Spinning Sun
8. I Am Awake
9. Crowds
10. Light Sleeper

Order Light Sleeper by Bess Atwell HERE