Rosehip Teahouse (Faye, Tony, Will, Josh and Alice) returned with a gorgeously heartfelt bedroom recorded new EP Chillin in the Void last week through Sad Club Records. These home recorded songs are subtle woven with twinkling guitars and dellcate keyboard motifs, while Faye’s bittersweet vocal harmonies are ripe with a tone that stops you in your tracks.
Each song radiates with a wistful yet direct quality and some brutally honest and deceptive lyrical couplets about being heartbroken, coming to terms with sexuality and coping with mental health issues. These songs are the stripped back sound of surviving lockdown and clinging onto the hope that one day things will change.
Formed originally by Faye Rogers (Guitar & Vocals) back in 2015 in Cardiff, playing only a small number of house shows and DIY gigs, Faye crafted these subtle and delicate songs, which command your attention, from start to finish. Recorded DIY style, using any means possible, Faye was later joined by friend Will Dickins (Drums). Since the early Bandcamp singles, have formed a densely layered, full band with Tony Williams (Guitar), Josh Dickins (Bass) and Alice Low, playing several intimate shows in and around the city.
Today, Faye talks us through each track on the Chillin in the Void EP:
But making this EP really allowed some light back into it all. It felt incredibly nostalgic, as Rosehip Teahouse as a project started with me writing and recording songs in my parent’s house when I still lived at home, sat hunched over a laptop and a microphone, hitting different buttons and hoping for the best. This was very much the same (except I had Alice to help me set up the equipment properly and to show me the right buttons – thank you Alice). The EP is made up of new and old songs. It’s an overspill of emotions and experiences, lots of worrying but also a lot of hope.”
It’s The Wrong Time
“It’s The Wrong Time came from many hours of feeling overwhelmed in the lockdown. It was scary, like for everyone, having such a big change to routines and everyday life. All my mental health support had been paused, due to the spread of the virus, and that support is something that keeps me well.
I had a lot of intrusive thoughts and impulses to ruin the progress I’ve made with my mental health and this song is about trying to deal with them and not giving in to destructive and unhelpful behaviours during this weird time.”
Regretting It
“Regretting It is a song I wrote last year when I was feeling totally overwhelmed. I struggle with understanding and coping with my emotions at the best of times, and I was making decisions that I knew were bad for me and trying not to sink under the weight of it all.’
‘I found myself dwelling on a lot of this stuff over the lockdown as all the empty time allows a lot of room for overthinking and it felt like the right time to record it. Now it’s out of my system I feel a lot better and can kind of laugh about it a bit. I’ve never clapped on a song before and the synth solo brings me a lot of joy that breaks up the sadness behind it all.”
Thought Number 3
“I wrote this song a couple of years back now. I was really struggling with my mental health, and this song was my expression of feeling as if my problems were stopping me from being able to live my life in the way I wanted to.
The version of this song on the EP is the one I recorded the day I finished writing the song in
2017, miserable in my room at my parents’ house using a cheap microphone and garageband on an old macbook that I was putting off returning to my ex. It feels like a long time ago now, but every time I hear it it feels like 3am in that room that was too warm again.”
Space to Think
“This song was written at a time when I was trying to ignore and squash my feelings around my sexuality. I knew in my heart and soul that I was a queer person, but it seemed much easier to hide away from that than acknowledge it. Then suddenly I would dream every night about having a girlfriend, exploring the world together, lots of cute and stereotypical things like picnics and sitting in the sunshine hahah. It followed me around everywhere and nagged at me enough to realise I needed to properly accept myself for who I am and stop ignoring something that was actually very important to me. I’ve been trying to be a lot more open about my queerness now and it has helped me so much in my quest to find my identity.”
Light Footed, For Once
“I wrote and recorded this song in one go, with no real understanding of how it would come out or what I would use it for. It’s a song that I thought I was writing for someone else, but as time passed, I realised it was more of a letter to myself. This song highlights the intense highs and lows that come with mental health recovery. I found myself experiencing real joy and optimism for the first time in a long while and then watched myself sabotage that and crash back down into sadness again. I felt really lost and unable to cope properly with any of it. This song has become a reminder for me to look after myself, notice when things aren’t going so well and to stop sabotaging the good things. Hold your own hand, enjoy the beauty in the world and know that in your heart, you have strength.”
