Today, Daisy Harris has released her sophomore record, ‘Shula’. Sonically, ‘Shula’ demonstrates a marked shift from the lilac-tinged Olivia Rodrigo-esque offerings found within 2024’s ‘Man Of The Year’ EP, and takes a dive into the swirling, ethereal sounds of Cocteau Twins, and adopts the striking dreampop of The Sundays. Through a dozen tracks, Harris straddles the trepidatious abyss between yearning for romantic connection and finding strength in solidarity, with the narratives found within exploring the stark juxtaposition. 

Opting for 90s bitterness in The Cardigans and The Sundays, rather than Avril Lavigne, ‘Is This Anything’ rolls its eyes at passion (“he’s so years ago”), and sits as the older sister of Harris’ previous release, ‘Your Girlfriend’. Here, Harris explores her queerness with ‘Is This Anything’, documenting the first time she fell in love with someone who wasn’t a man, highlighting how “real” love comes awash with calmness. The track perfectly summarises Harris’ mindset as the record begins its journey: overtly romantic. As we reach the second half, however, ‘Julie’ displays overt romanticism, diving into the healing powers of a one-night stand that culminates in the fantastical lyrics of ‘Spoon Song’ (“you’re a blue moon, and I’m black magic chasing your light”), as the record spirals into feeling stuck between the fear of solidarity and the fear of opening up to someone. Admitting awareness of both sides of the battle, album closer ‘Basil Go To Sleep’, Harris declares “I don’t think you know the difference between sacrifice and sabotage”, before the final line (“Can you teach me how to be her”), immediately cuts out the record, in a sonic whiplash bound to leave a lasting impression.

‘Shula’ also includes lead single ‘This Is It’ - a track drenched in heartache, that takes its roots in lush shoegaze-infused indie rock as Harris recounts the horrors of a break-up in your early twenties. Written in two halves, the former in Summer 2023, during the depths of post-breakup depression, and the latter, twelve months later as Harris was “living her best life”, ‘This Is It’ champions recovery and is the perfect demonstration of the juxtaposition between two situational extremes. 

Despite the sonic contrasts, ‘This Is It’ follows the self-love-meets-resentment narratives of ‘The Way I Live My Life’ (“You said you’ll always be there / So did my ex from last year”), and the gut-wrenching undertones found throughout ‘Soviet Space Dogs (feat. decreece)’. Here, however, Harris is older, bolder, and dissecting her relationships with a more mature, refined outlook. Poetically inclined, the lyrics themselves explore disintegration, from being wholly enamored (“We kept each other close at first / Your head on my chest as it burst… Never sick of the sight of you”), to being left raw, vulnerable, and completely “undone” (“Seems like all I do is hurt… Feels like all my wiring’s exposed”).

"‘This Is It’ is the epitome of the music I want to make,” Harris says, “it was born from the worst breakup of my life and the two summers after it. As soon as I started to write it in the summer of 2023, I knew I would build the album around it”. 

The record itself isn’t lacking in its popular resemblances: ‘Robin Hood New Moon’ sees Elliott Smith share a space with The Cranberries, ‘Harper and Truman’ features poeticism found rooted throughout Evan Dando’s discography, and ‘Bonesetter’ proudly displays The Smashing Pumpkins qualities.

Talking on the project as a whole, Harris notes: “Chronicling my constant battle between craving solitude and yearning for love, ‘Shula’ is the journey to realising there’s no easy solution. Inspired by the 90s music I loved growing up and named after my mum’s super-independent childhood dog, ‘Shula’ feels like a collection of my best work and a journal of the frustrations of my early 20s”.

With this in mind, the record, however, doesn’t just explore traditional love. ‘Spoon Song’ is an ode to Harris’ cat, Junebug, ‘Harper and Truman’ is a love song to her creative relationships, and ‘Robin Hood New Moon’, a tribute to her found home in Manchester. The turning point of ‘Shula’ comes as Harris realises that no matter how deep these adorations are, none can act as replacements for romantic love and companionship.

Advocating the DIY approach in its most handcrafted form, Harris loudly forgoes AI-generation, bringing in a team of talented creatives to aid in bringing ‘Shula’ to fruition: Jacob Harris (aka Davoli, drums), Lewis Mortimer (mastering), Gabbi Goldman (photography), Pupari (‘Spoon Song’’s cat ring) and Amano (album artwork jumper) - all the while, writing, producing, and directing herself. The font found on the artwork is also created by Harris, taking inspiration from the whimsy of early Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Still only in her twenties, Harris has mastered the art of self-expression through purposefully penned cuts. Creating her own unique flavour of genre-fluid music, Harris takes inspiration from Mazzy Star, The Smashing Pumpkins and The Cardigans to cement her brand of indie-pop guitar music. Harris has already worked the showcase circuit across Glasgow and with total self-sufficiency when it comes to recording and mixing, and has been dominating the Manchester music scene with live shows, most notably the Manchester Micro Music Festival and Teenage Market.

With the emergence of girl-pop artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Beabadoobee in recent years, rising star Harris is following suit. With her own unique take on preppy-meets-ferocious power cuts that take on love, jealousy, heartache and forbidden lusts, Harris’ venture into emotive folk-pop culminated in 2024’s impressive and freeing EP ‘Man Of The Year’.  

Joining her diverse discography alongside breakout record ‘Tornado Dreams’, and the lo-fi intonations of the ‘Fish Tank’ extended play, ‘Shula’ is just the most recent example of an artist defying genres and championing the DIY-popstar approach.

Tracklist:

1. My Favourite Place

2. Robin Hood New Moon

3. Is This Anything

4. Desire Path

5. Harper and Truman

6. Wild Swimming

7. Julie

8. This Is It

9. I Feel Ancient

10. Spoon Song

11. Bonesetter

12. Basil Goes To Sleep 

‘Shula’ is available on all major streaming platforms.

Images: Gabbi Goldman