is that all there is? (RSD 22)

Amy Michelle’s artistry and music is one that belongs on vinyl; the left field, sort-of-pop come haunting bedroom-recorded ‘alternative’ sound lives and breathes on vinyl, the intimate process of listening to her music emphasised perfectly by the act of placing it on the deck and hitting play. Amy is of that new generation who are encapsulated by the vinyl revival, and with that comes the importance of having each and every one of her release’s on a physical format.

Amy has many ideas of how she can emphasise her music and message through physical formats, and feels it would be a very powerful statement for her first release to be a part of record store day; not only is it an institution which has been the gateway for so many people her age, to be a woman representing RSD through her music would go some way to inspiring more young women to break into the physical music scene, one that has been dominated by male artists for so long.

Being a highly visual artist, it is immensely frustrating that the tiny square on a DSP app may be the only way for her early fans to see what she puts so much into to help convey herself as an artist. With Amy, it’s the whole package; every lyric, flourish of colour, choice of pose for artwork, it’s all deliberate and intended. The overarching theme of this EP is Amy coming to terms with her younger-self’s ambition and dreams; Amy is repurposing her old school notebooks to illustrate the track list on this record.

The vinyl will be pressed in the exact Pantone of purple used in all her art, the symbolic nature of which will be displayed as she develops as an artist. With ‘is that all there is?’ Amy cycles through a dream-state paralysis delivered with a quiet intensity. She literally leaves nothing in the well, giving all into her songs whilst cleverly using subtle guitar and production to carry the weight of her writing. This raw emotion carries throughout the EP. She truly encapsulates the quietest ones have the loudest minds.

Amy made a video in April 2020 to a demo version of the debut single, ‘the bottom of the well’, featuring her childhood home videos — it immediately captivated and silenced us all when we first saw it. We think that ‘is that all there is?’ would be a fantastic and necessary addition to this year’s RSD.