In the contemporary landscape of ambient experimentalism and Nordic-rooted folk, few collaborations feel as seamlessly intuitive and ancestral as Djuphjärtad. Derived from the Swedish word for "deep-hearted," the four-track EP represents a masterclass in sonic alchemy. It is the joint creation of Jenny Gillespie Mason—the visionary behind the ambient project Ship Says Om and founder of Native Cat Recordings—and Bay Area-based singer-songwriter Emma Lucia.
Released via Native Cat Recordings, Djuphjärtad marries Emma’s crystalline, ancient-sounding vocal delivery and traditional Scandinavian folk sensibilities with Jenny’s sprawling, texturally rich ambient soundscapes. Built upon a foundation of organic instrumentation, vintage and modern synthesizers, and immersive nature-based field recordings, the EP has drawn critical comparisons to the atmospheric weight of Stina Nordenstam, Sofie Birch, Cigarettes After Sex, and the sonic collages of The Books.
Beyond its sonic architecture, the EP serves as a transcontinental and ancestral bridge. Drawing heavily upon a shared Swedish lineage, the creative process unlocked subconscious historical echoes, channeling everything from traditional Sami vocal textures to the rhythmic push-and-pull of Nordic coastlines. This comprehensive investigative feature delves deep into the anatomy of Djuphjärtad, offering a track-by-track chronological breakdown, exclusive artist commentaries, and an exploration of the thematic and physical landscapes that birthed one of the year’s most enchanting ambient releases.
Detailed Chronology: The Genesis of Djuphjärtad
The genesis of Djuphjärtad began not in a sterile, high-budget studio, but within the organic exchange of artistic trust between two Bay Area musicians who had transitioned from everyday friends to creative collaborators. For Jenny Gillespie Mason, this project marked a distinct departure from previous works. It was her first time co-creating a cohesive body of work with someone embedded in her immediate local community rather than a distant musical acquaintance.
The Spark and the Raw Materials
Emma Lucia initiated the project by handing over a series of raw musical blueprints. These initial submissions primarily consisted of a cappella vocal stems and stripped-down acoustic guitar and vocal recordings. Recognizing the raw purity of Emma’s voice—an instrument possessing a timeless, almost otherworldly resonance—Jenny felt an immediate sense of artistic freedom.
Rather than overwhelming the vocals with heavy-handed production, Jenny opted to build an intricate, breathing ecosystem around them. The primary tools for this endeavor were intentionally organic: acoustic pianos, acoustic guitars, shakers, and delicate bells, all intertwined with field recordings harvested from nature.
Unlocking Ancestral Frequencies
As the production cycle deepened, both artists reported an uncanny, shared spiritual connection to their Scandinavian ancestry. Jenny noted that throughout the vocal arrangement process, the word "Sami"—referring to the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia known for their profound spiritual connection to the land—kept surfacing in her mind, prompting her to research the culture.
Upon sharing this with Emma, a deeper layer of cultural synergy was unlocked. Emma confirmed that while her childhood was largely soundtracked by mainstream Swedish pop music, the structural DNA of ancient Scandinavian folk melodies was deeply embedded in her compositional style. Furthermore, shared childhood memories—such as Emma’s teenage experiences riding reindeer through the snowy landscapes of the north—seemed to manifest directly in the vast, gentle, and unhurried emotional expansiveness of her vocal delivery. This shared ancestral energy provided a steadfast bedrock, guiding the duo through the experimental waters of ambient production.
Track-by-Track Chronological Breakdown
1. Ditt Hjärta (“I Am Holding Your Heart”)
- The Genesis: Originally conceived by Emma as an a cappella performance underscored by a traditional Nordic drum pattern, "Ditt Hjärta" underwent a radical transformation under Jenny’s direction.
- Production & Sound Design: Seeking to craft a delicate, texturally dense soundscape that served as a beacon of light, Jenny bypassed conventional ambient presets. Approaching software synthesizers like Omnisphere with a critical eye toward overused tropes, she hunted for jagged, unique elements that could be softened within a warm mix. This led to the inclusion of "Escher’s Drum," a tender, horn-like synth that acts as a persistent, conversational call-and-response element throughout the track. Jenny meticulously fragmented Emma’s vocal stems into a flickering introductory presence that gradually solidified into a meditative mantra. The emotional core of the piece was further cemented around the 1:20 mark via the nuanced chord progressions of the Orchid synth.
- The Artist’s Perspective: Emma notes that the resulting production feels akin to a meditative walk through a secluded forest populated by birdsong and owls—an audio-spatial invitation to open one’s heart and yield to the comforting embrace of the natural world. In Swedish, "Jag håller ditt hjärta" translates directly to "I am holding your heart."
2. Feel Your Eyes
- The Genesis: "Feel Your Eyes" underwent the most volatile developmental arc of any track on the EP. Initially envisioned as a high-energy, danceable composition, Jenny constructed a driving rhythm utilizing a Korg Volca drum machine.
- Production & Sound Design: Realizing that the rigid tempo and heavy beat were actively detracting from the fragile emotional core of Emma’s vocals, Jenny systematically stripped away the instrumentation. The track evolved from a conventional song structure into an ambient-leaning sound sculpture. Into this space, Jenny integrated a deeply evocative thunder sample—long stored away for the right creative moment—to mirror the track’s themes of romantic longing. A charming, humanizing touch occurs at the very beginning: the voice of Jenny’s ten-year-old son, captured while wandering in and out of the studio, offering a spontaneous word of encouragement ("You got this"). Jenny processed this familial vocal sample by reversing it and running it through spatial effects. Subtle percussion elements, including "magic wands" and a "confetti bell," add textural dust, while a fleeting nod to the original Volca beat serves as a rhythmic coda at the very end.
- The Artist’s Perspective: Emma’s foundational writing process for this piece relied on cyclical acoustic guitar fingerpicking designed to mimic the relentless, physical push-and-pull of ocean waves. Lyrically and melodically, the song explores the ethereal concept of persistent presence—the comforting sensation that a loved one remains close even across vast physical distances.
3. Water Prayer
- The Genesis: Beginning its life as a stark, unaccompanied a cappella performance, "Water Prayer" showcased Emma’s most regal and majestic vocal styling. Possessing the cadence of an ancient war chant rendered fluid and pliable, the vocal track begged for an aquatic sonic habitat.
- Production & Sound Design: Jenny constructed a wholly immersive maritime environment using field recordings of oars rhythmically pulling through water. To add an uncanny, psychological edge to the environment, Jenny duplicated the rowing sample and processed it through Ableton’s "Disharmonics" filter. This was layered alongside twilight bird recordings captured during an evening walk in Los Angeles’ Highland Park, as well as the organic resonance of a Yoruba hand drum.
- The Artist’s Perspective: Emma’s vocal composition was an intentional exercise in tapping into primordial Scandinavian folk history—utilizing humming and wordless vocalizations ("ooohs") passed down through generations. Upon receiving Jenny’s finished mix, Emma reported being moved to tears by its duality of absolute peace, gentleness, and underlying power.
4. Keep Me
- The Genesis: The closing track arrived in Jenny’s hands as a pristine acoustic guitar and vocal stem recorded with exceptional fidelity by Emma. Bearing an initial sonic resemblance to the intimate acoustic styling of Kings of Convenience, the song demanded a treatment that could support its intensely romantic and immediate lyricism.
- Production & Sound Design: Rather than abandoning the acoustic purity, Jenny built outward from Emma’s original stems. She chopped up a tribal drum sample sourced from Freesound to provide an organic percussive heartbeat. To inject soft dramatic tension, she deployed Omnisphere’s expanding and contracting synth patch, "Moons of Jupiter," across the entire arrangement. This was counterbalanced by a propulsive, gritty bass synth patch ("Moon Fall") from the Arturia Minifreak, providing an edge to the otherwise soft mix. Chord swells from the Orchid synth and layered backing vocals by Jenny constructed a cinematic arc. In a characteristically risky yet successful move, the song resolves not with an over-the-top crescendo, but with a sweet, unexpected passage of human whistling.
- The Artist’s Perspective: Centered around the raw vulnerability of a brand-new romantic attachment, "Keep Me" examines the tightrope walk between profound joy and the latent fear of heartache. Jenny’s inclusion of rolling ocean wave samples at the onset underscores this thematic duality: water can soothe as a gentle environment, but it possesses the raw, crashing power of a storm—much like the human heart navigating love.
Supporting Context & Metrics
The Label: Native Cat Recordings
Djuphjärtad finds its home on Native Cat Recordings, an independent label founded by Jenny Gillespie Mason in 2010. Operating as a dedicated vehicle for uncompromising, genre-agnostic art, Native Cat has consistently championed releases that bridge the gap between traditional singer-songwriter introspection and avant-garde sound design. By releasing Djuphjärtad through her own imprint, Mason maintains absolute creative sovereignty, ensuring that the cross-pollination between Emma Lucia’s Nordic folk roots and Ship Says Om’s ambient experimentalism remains entirely uncompromised by corporate music industry pressures.
Distribution & Accessibility
Reflecting the modern hybrid consumption model of independent music, Djuphjärtad was released to the public across both physical-digital paradigms and major streaming ecosystems:
- Direct-to-Fan/Archival: Available for purchase and lossless streaming directly via Bandcamp (
shipsaysom.bandcamp.com). - High-Resolution Streaming: Accessible via premium audiophile platforms including Tidal, alongside ubiquitous mainstream services such as Spotify and Apple Music.
Official Statements
Reflecting on the collaborative process, Jenny Gillespie Mason (Ship Says Om) noted:
"I was delighted when Emma asked me to collaborate on an EP, as it was the first instance of collaborating with someone who was a friend from my everyday life—not just a musical acquaintance… I wanted to work with a lot of organic sounds—shakers, bells, acoustic guitar and piano—as well as use nature sound samples to augment the crystalline purity of Emma’s voice that also feels quite ancient."
Detailing the emotional resonance of the project, Emma Lucia reflected:
"Jenny has this beautiful ability to create an immersive world that feels both intimate and powerful at the same time… A production that has the possibility of pulling you into deep-hearted emotion, that’s open, explorative, and curious to what might unfold."
Future Outlook
As Djuphjärtad establishes its footprint across ambient, folk, and experimental playlists worldwide, the collaborative success of Ship Says Om and Emma Lucia points toward an evolving frontier in independent cross-genre production. By demonstrating that modern digital sound design can gracefully coexist with ancient folk traditions, field recordings, and acoustic instrumentation, the duo has set a high-water mark for contemporary collaborative ambient music.
While neither artist has officially confirmed a follow-up extended player, the profound creative chemistry unlocked during the making of Djuphjärtad—coupled with the rich vein of their shared Scandinavian heritage—suggests that this four-track EP may well be the foundational first chapter of an ongoing transcontinental creative partnership. Audiophiles and seekers of deep-hearted sonic sanctuaries can acquire the EP and explore the broader Native Cat Recordings catalog directly via Bandcamp.
