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Chloe Foy has shared the title-track from her forthcoming debut album, Where Shall We Begin. Arriving on 11 June, the album closes the chapter on a formative period for the Gloucestershire-via-Manchester songwriter. After losing her father to depression, Foy embarked on a ten-year-period where she followed her career path tirelessly whilst also dealing with the internal and external fallout from losing an influential figure so young.

The title-track is a microcosm of what makes Foy so special. It begins pensively with Foy?s poetry-like lyricism taking centre stage, before swelling into a hair-raising, choral harmony that gleams blindingly and brilliantly bright. Speaking of the track, Foy said: ?This song is about the moment that the complexity of life dawns on you. When you lose people you love, you realise life isn?t what you hoped or expected it to be and feel quite betrayed by that. However, it?s also a nod to those who are around to comfort us and who bring us round to the idea that maybe it?ll be ok.?

Foy first started to attract attention as far back as 2013 when her debut single, In The Middle of the Night, was picked up by BBC 6 Music and Radio 2. Follow-up singles, Flaws and Asylum, brought huge streaming success ? the latter is approaching 8.5 million Spotify plays ? and festival appearances followed soon after ? SXSW in 2018, Green Man and Cambridge Folk Festival in 2019.

Where Shall We Begin is the sound of someone who has spent years working away, content to only unleash their first full body of work when they, as an artist, were at their most complete. ?For me, this album has come out of a decade of hard graft, trying to balance my craft with making a living, whilst taking my time to get it right. All whilst dealing with the fallout of a huge bereavement in my most formative years. I was finding it hard to work out who I was within this new, alien context of losing a parent,? explains Foy.

Inspired by songwriters like Gillian Welch, Edith Piaf and Tyler Ramsay, and producers like Blake Mills and John Congleton, the resulting album revolves around Foy?s spine-tingling, pure vocals and her near perfect songwriting. Expect the melodies to lodge in your head for days.

Recorded at Pinhole Studios in Manchester, an army of musical collaborators dropped by to lend their embellishments to Foy?s patchwork; viola and harp contributions taking the work to a whole new level. Foy co-produced the record alongside musical collaborator Harry Fausing Smith, who is also responsible for the string arrangements.

The songs themselves are both incredibly empathetic and self-compassionate. And It Goes is about how her mother?s love remained unfaltering even as she came to terms with the loss of her soulmate, while stand-out Work of Art is about the warmth created for both songwriter and audience when a community of music lovers come together to spend their evening lost in song.

It all adds to make up for a soothing and incredibly vulnerable listen. An album that could both rock a baby to sleep, and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, inspire deep self-excavation and existential analysis. The kind of album that doesn?t come around very often. ?These songs are my most inner and deepest secrets. The kind of things I only express to those closest to me, but for some reason in song, I can be open with the world.?

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Located on Oldham Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, Gullivers is an iconic, lively and bustling bar with a long history dating all the way back to 1865.
Gullivers has had many different guises over the years. It was originally a Wilson’s house called The Albert Hotel, then The Grenadier before J.W. Lees brewery bought the pub in the 1970s. They renamed it Gullivers and it has existed in its current form to this day.
But there’s much more to Gullivers than just the busy bar; it also houses two distinct yet complementary live music and performance spaces; the upstairs Ballroom – a 100 capacity gig venue with a raised stage and the downstairs Lounge – an intimate, 40 capacity space ideal for acoustic or low-key performances.
As well as working with established and longstanding promoters from Manchester and beyond, Gullivers prides itself on being a welcoming, supportive space and a creative hub for the city’s grassroots artistic communities; with many now successful bands, artists, performers and promoters cutting their teeth within its walls.
This rare combination of space, location and ethos allows Gullivers to boast a busy calendar of live music, spoken word, comedy, theatre, film screenings, exhibitions and much more on almost every night of the week.

109 Oldham Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

England,

M4 1LW.

0161 839 4064