Jessica of The Staves joins Tom Speight on his new single “Willow Tree”

The lead single from his EP of the same name, “Willow Tree” is a rolling, expansive folk track featuring the vocal talents The Staves’ Jessica Staveley-Taylor alongside Speight’s own. Drenched in the sunny warmth of Speight and Staveley-Taylor’s harmonies, it’s a nostalgic love song to uplift the listener through the last dark days of winter.

“I was listening to a lot of Laura Marling and Damien Rice around the time [of recording], and I think their methods definitely help shape this EP,” Speight explains. Marling’s influence particularly is audible in the track, alongside that of other folk stalwarts such as Mumford & Sons and Fleet Foxes, in support of both of whom Speight has previously toured.

’Willow Tree’ is definitely my favourite track Chris Bond has produced of mine. He gave it a really warm texture and depth that the recording required. I also feel like it’s my least comprised recording to date because of they way we tracked it.”

“We recorded around 11pm at night; all huddled around playing live next to each other. There was something really special about it because it felt so human.”