‘the bottom of the well’ is the stunning debut single from Amy Michelle, available now on Method Records.
A remarkable new talent, Amy Michelle appears as inspired by the rawly honest songwriting and lo-fi production of Elliott Smith or Phoebe Bridgers as she does the communal, cathartic spirit of “my main crutch”, The 1975. The youngest of three, she was born and raised in Mullingar, a small town in the midlands of Ireland. Amy Michelle learnt guitar in part from watching her Dad play trad music, and from her granny’s eye-catching style developed her own striking interest in fashion and beauty.
Amy Michelle’s first single, ‘the bottom of a well’, is a powerful introduction to a claustrophobic, colourful and distinct world of her own. Written and produced by Amy in her bedroom just before the pandemic, inspiration came from that soon-to-be timely place “of fear and entrapment. I’ve always struggled with sleep, but was dealing with particularly intrusive nightmares. Seeing some sort of light from the bottom of a well – but not having the strength to reach it – became symbolic of insecurities, uncertainties, and heartbreak.” The demo to the ‘bottom of the well’ was accompanied by a poignant compilation of her childhood home movies, securing Amy Michelle her record deal and, inadvertently, her first ever music video. It was completed with additional production from Amy and Rich Cooper (Rina Sawyama, Dua Lipa).
‘the bottom of the well’ is the first track from Amy Michelle’s debut EP due early next year, which tackles big questions (mortality, faith, mental health, the existential) with her own intimate, Gen Z touch. Ultimately aiming to recapture that innocence and curiosity we lose, perhaps, as the kid in the VHS tapes grows up, Amy Michelle now joins the incredible and diverse new wave of Irish music primed for the world’s stage. Despite its dark beginnings, the vantage point from ‘the bottom of the well’ is that the only way out is up.
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