Scottish singer songwriter Theo Bleak is on the verge of releasing new music. Her new single “In My House” is an ethereal haunting song full of despair and sadness but she insists that it’s a lighter song and loves being alone. She nails down her feelings at the moment of each song no matter how melancholy she may be feeling at the time. She truly writes with her heart on her sleeve.
I talked to the singer about all the emotions she encapsulates when writing and recording music, her mesmerizing vocals, and getting cosigned by Noel Gallagher.
At what age did you notice that you had a knack for music?
I grew up in a family who loved music. I was always taken to see bands on school nights and there was always an album on in my dads car. I originally started with an interest in classical and theatre which later changed in high school to my own songwriting and a deep love for all the bands I grew up on. I guess people told me I could sing at some point and it just became compulsively engrained into who I was.
Your music is ethereal and haunting to say the least. Are these moods intentional when it
comes to the music? Do you think you will stray away from acoustic guitar and release
something more up-tempo?
I think it’s a taste thing a lot of the time, but my music has changed recently as my life has changed. I am literally open to anywhere that my sound takes me, as long as it feels true.
Tell me more about your single “In My House”.
I worked with someone who really really hated me, and I was so drained by being so loathed all the time. A friend said to me ‘yeah but he doesn’t even really know you’ and I thought about how I started to think I was this evil horrible person because I was looking at myself through his eyes rather than my own. I was working with writer Dan Gautreau and we just had this lovely day in the studio working on writing about this exact feeling. The song is about how I feel on my own, out with the perception of others. It’s about all the layers that make me up, and how I feel about myself and the world when I’m on my own.
Your vocals are mesmerizing. Did singing always come relatively easy for you?
Genuinely at points my voice has been unbearably bad. Maybe that’s self critical, but stylistically I’ve made a lot of mistakes with my voice in the past. I’m working on it all the time, finding the purest ways I can use my voice. I feel very lucky to be able to sing though.
You have been cosigned by Suede, The Twilight Sad, and Noel Gallagher. How does that
feel?
Some of the shows were great, some of them not so. It’s always amazing to be asked to perform alongside people who have had insane careers, you always learn something from everything you do in life. I think i would likely appeal to a specific audience and I’m yet to find them. The Twilight Sad collaboration I did was genuinely a dream come true, however. James is one of the most entrancing writers and performers I’ve ever seen.
What is next for you? Do you plan on coming to the States anytime soon?
I have this AA side out early Autumn, followed by some shows dotted all over. I’ll be in the United States at the end of this summer and I’m hoping to be back again early 2025. Some of my most favorite guitar music comes from the USA, and I’m excited to work with people there.
