Isabella Richardson – Waiting Room: Indie-Folk Romantic Fury for the Lucy Dacus and Mitski Faithful –

As equally luminous as Lucy Dacus and atmospherically intuitive as Mitski, indie singer-songwriter Isabella Richardson is already a phenomenon in her own right. The release of her EP, First Aid Kit, featuring the lead single Waiting Room, establishes the introspectively poetic siren as one of the most talented voices of her generation.

Richardson carries the force of an entrancing vocalist with a gift for artfully tempered theatrical folk confessionalism, yet the deeper magic lies in her refusal to sing from anyone else’s hymn sheet. There is a fire of lyrical poetry burning through her like an inferno, and Waiting Room lets that fire spread across the arrangement with haunting control.

In this heartbroken tour de force, her emotions, thoughts and observations spiral into a sermon of spitefully fierce revelation. Each line bears down more vulnerable weight on your conscience as the arrangement pirouettes through artfully evocative progressions, leaving you feeling the full force of her romantic fury.

Raised in Melbourne, shaped by Nashville, Los Angeles and now the UK, Richardson has built an independent career across continents, from early country chart success to a Disney+ soundtrack placement and more than 1.7 million Spotify streams. With First Aid Kit recorded in South London and The Come Down tour carrying her voice across UK venues, Waiting Room feels like her most self-possessed statement yet.

Waiting Room is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast