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 but finding strength in solidarity, with the narratives found within exploring the stark juxtaposition.
Opting for 90’s 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”.