Gilan – Goddess Unwilling (2023)
Born into a family of musicians, singer-songwriter Gilan grew up with a passion for music. While Gilan was born in the UK, she moved around the world a great deal before settling in the Middle East as a child. She, however, returned to the UK as a young adult and has worked on various projects promoting acceptance and empowerment for adults who “don’t quite fit the mould”. She shares that “as a mixed heritage queer person of colour, I do not fit into any box; that says more about the world and the rules we live by as a society than it does about me…” Connecting with others using her engaging, enthusiastic and charming melodies, Gilan shares her music with the world hopefully resonating with others.
The first release since her single ‘Vampire’ in 2021, Goddess Unwilling is Gilan’s four-track EP discussing grief, loss, pain and dealing with human fragility in today’s world. Focusing primarily on personal emotions, although using the intimate narrative to speak with listeners, Gilan explains the idea behind Goddess Unwilling “…is that I had been too stubborn to admit my feelings of sadness surrounding various things happening in my life. I was just carrying around the weight of everything and unsurprisingly I eventually unravelled. This EP is an emotional journey through the different stages of grief I was having, eventually ending in the realisation that…I just needed to accept it and reset myself.”
Penned shortly after quitting her “day job” without any backup plan, Gilan found herself in shock and potentially a bit panicked, but it was this shock that made Goddess Unwilling what it is. A melting pot of sounds, Gilan showcases her diversity with elements of indie-folk, alternative rock, folk-pop and even a hint of grunge nestled in the sonic river.
Opening with ‘Forward Fold’, Gilan introduces us to her organic folk style – a mere guitar accompanied by intoxicating vocals. What I find intriguing from the opening track ‘Forward Fold’ to the closing ‘Pieces’ is how raw, stark and brash the songs are. A sense of painful innocence exudes from the tracks matching sophisticated arrangements with a broken naivety creating something very unusual. If The Cranberries were to have a child with Alanis Morissette, the chances are it would be Gilan and Goddess Unwilling is her theme song(s).
For more from Gilan, check out her Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
