Rosina Bullen pens a lighthearted love letter to Dear Daphne in her latest single — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The third preview of the U.K.-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter’s upcoming sophomore EP Trip To Tikal, the sweetly upbeat Dear Daphne is a Beatles-inspired bit of pop perfection that finds Bullen sharing a list of wishes and hopes for her young niece.
“This is one of my favourite songs on the EP and I think that most of the band agree too as it’s always great fun to play and when we do it live,” Bullen shares. “I’ve finally convinced the guys to sing the extra harmonies that you hear at end of the track! In case you didn’t notice when listening to the song, I am big Beatles fan and had been listening to loads of them at the time and so I think it’s definitely got some of that sound in it!
“The actual song is written for my amazing little niece who lives in the U.K. and surprise, surprise, she is called Daphne. The first time I played this for her she seemed very unimpressed that someone had stolen her name in a song but I think that it is growing on her now!
“The lyrics in the song are kind of like a message of love and hope for Daphne and all the other girls and women out there too! The world can be a tough place at times for all of us and especially as a girl but it is always so amazing to see how things are gradually changing for the better. So this song is just a little reflection of that — it’s not the most intricate lyrically nuanced song on the EP but sometimes something more straightforward and to the point can work just as well and I felt like that was what this song needed.
“Funnily enough, this song was the easiest to write of all the tracks and it just flowed out of me one day when I was sitting at the piano. I always find it funny how this works with song writing. Either I write a song in a day or I get little bits of a song and find it takes a really long time to finish them and find something that works! I had a clear message for this track that I wanted to convey and when I brought it into a rehearsal with the guys it just all worked so well! I often find it easier to write sad, sentimental songs for some reason so it just felt really great to get something with a more upbeat, happy feel to it!”
On Trip to Tikal, Bullen is writing her musical memoir one song at a time. She draws inspiration from the confessional songwriting of Elliott Smith and Phoebe Bridgers, the tight pop of Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush, and the forward-thinking sonic worlds of Big Thief and Talk Talk as she shares tales from her own life. “The thing that inspires me to write,” she explains, “is when something happens. Every song is linked to some specific event in my life.”
Throughout the EP, Rosina demonstrates she has the craft to draw universal themes from autobiographical storytelling. “I felt very oversensitive as a kid and found the world pretty overwhelming,” she explains. “The way I made sense of the emotions was sitting at the piano and writing it into a song.”
Rosina is joined on Trip To Tikal by her band, which includes Nick Pennington on guitar, Rasmus Sorensen on keyboards, Mathias Jensen on bass and Angus Mason on drums — all friends who met while studying at the Manhattan School of Music. The ensemble worked with producer Hector Castillo (Philip Glass, David Bowie, John Legend), who guided and elevated the process. “Hector made us think about the absolute essentials of the songs,” Rosina recounts. “How can I build it up? What’s the story? He had us talk about what the song is about as a band.”
Through each song, the ensemble’s tight, dynamic interplay supports Rosina’s shining vocal, amplifying the emotional content of the songwriter’s stories. Due in May, Trip To Tikal makes it clear Bullen is a masterful songwriter, a nuanced, emotional vocalist, and that she has more stories to tell.
Check out Dear Daphne above, hear more from Rosina Bullen below, and find her on her website, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
