Back in August, Josienne Clarke released the acclaimed album, A Small Unknowable Thing. For the Scottish songwriter, it marked something of a turning point, rebelling against self-doubt and acknowledging the existence of the structures that, “keep women in their place”, as well as the courage required, “to break those structures down”. While many would rest on their laurels and take time to toast their own success, Josienne is wasting no time in getting back to it, and today is premiering a brand new single, Driving At Night, the first taste of her upcoming EP, I Promised You Light.

Discussing I Promised You Light, Josienne has spoken of it as the full stop at the end of the sentence, or, “the light at the end of that particular tunnel”. The record was inspired by a post-show run-in with a particularly enthusiastic fan, “who stood there and literally wailed at me to ‘write a more positive song, one with a happy ending”. It stuck with Josienne, and drove her to write this EP, as she explains, “it’s all the positive lessons I’ve learned over the past few years and presented in my own, somewhat melancholic way”.

Driving At Night certainly slips into that melding of the euphoric and the difficult, exploring the joy that comes with setting a metaphorical torch to everything so you can start over again. While inspired by her own experiences, it touches on something much more universal, as she thrillingly sings of fear and freedom, “Lighting a fire, setting it right, burning the bonds and the binds, claiming the light”. Musically, the track is a delight, a middle ground of Fleetwood Mac-like soft-rock and My Woman-era Angel Olsen, and every bit as melodically gorgeous as that sounds. It’s a song that’s unashamedly anarchic, yet makes no great fuss about, it revels in the joy of the chaotic, the freedom of the flames, and sounds deliciously free as a result.

I Promised You Light is out February 4th via Corduroy Punk Records. For more information on Josienne Clarke visit https://josienneclarke.com/.