Perhaps it’s the geographical variance that has found its way into Flora Hibberd’s first full-length studio album that makes her sound so unmistakable. Born in England but currently living in Paris, ‘Swirl’ (2025) was recorded in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and therefore combines many stylistic elements into an impressive sound vocabulary that Hibberd knows how to play with. As if she had absorbed entire encyclopaedias of pop, rock, and folk music, her compositions are sublime and varied, displaying compositional maturity and a special knack for the right instrumentation in balanced arrangements. Producer Shane Leonard is responsible for them and was able to engage drummer JT Bates (Bon Iver, Taylor Swift) and pedal steel guitarist Ben Lester (Sufjan Stevens) for the album. The result is an accomplished combo that knows how to bring out every nuance of Hibberd’s stylistic repertoire, be it cosmopolitan jazz-pop, swinging rock jams, or melancholic indie folk with reminiscences of Elliott Smith and Nick Drake. A timeless debut that she will be presenting live on stage with us.