“The self-reflection in the title demonstrates a life lived. The songs are […] moments immortalised in time, bound together by nothing more than the human experience.”
Thus Lancashire-born singer-songwriter Toria Wooff muses on the creation of her self-titled debut album. Launching herself fully onto the scene, she beguiles with tales of love, loss, hope and womanhood, wrapped up in a beautifully strange gothic romanticism and infused with the influence of early ‘70s legends such as Led Zeppelin.
Toria Wooff, which was recorded with mix engineer and producer James Wyatt, is a perfect showcase for the singer’s powerful, full-bodied vocals that are simultaneously ethereal and capable of heartbreaking vulnerability. The tracks also demonstrate her talent as a storyteller, painting vivid pictures of experiences that perhaps have shaped Wooff.
‘The Plough’ eases in mysteriously like mist curling around a meadow, only for Wooff’s vocals to swell passionately with the musical accompaniment.
Many of the tracks on Wooff’s album have a distinctly melancholy flavour: ‘Lefty’s Motel Room’ and ‘Song for A’ explore the impact of death on those left behind, Wooff directing her regrets, loss, and heartache at the deceased and reminiscing on a happiness cut short; ‘Sweet William’ and the bluesy ‘Mountains’ centre around the theme of saying goodbye; and ‘The Flood’ sees the lilting vocals and intense instrumental backing rise and wash over us like a wave of broken-hearted pain.
‘Author Song’, which gives us another taste of bluesy guitar lines, and ‘Seeing Through Things’, are similarly tinged with melancholy and the struggles of a restless soul, though they are more mellow and – in the case of the latter – offer a glimpse of hope for better days ahead in the form of a soaring string crescendo.
The imagined ghost story ‘The Waltz of Winter Hey’ dives into the depths of the aforementioned gothic romanticism. It tells of a woman who haunts her lover for moving on so quickly after her death, the cello weaving in and out of the images of decaying flowers with a sinister undertone and the guitar keeping time like a music box.
‘That’s What Falling In Love Will Do’, reminiscent of a Bob Dylan ballad, and ‘Estuaries’ reflect on the challenges and pitfalls of romantic relationships, on how people can grow apart once the rose-tinted hue of early love fades. How strange it is that we as humans strive for something that we know can be so painful.
In a way, it is telling that ‘Estuaries’ is the closing track on Wooff’s debut album, the singer leaving us without saying goodbye like the lover in the song. After all, this is only the first of many chapters, merely an ‘I’ll see you again’. In Wooff’s own words: “In a nice turn of events this album feels like it’s only the beginning.”