“A Mirror Sometimes” is a passion project that coloured my year magical. It started out from a position of simply wanting to get together and write with a number of songwriters I admire, to shake my own creativity up. To play around and see what would happen when our processes mixed. But after the first two sessions, I just couldn’t stop. The power of collaboration is awe-inspiring, it truly does bring out the music-obsessed child in me and helps me bypass all of the other, much less important stuff that get in my head. 

Some of these collaborations are first-timers: Milo of the Shells and I met at a radio show and got along really well. We agreed to write together sometime. And then.. covid hit. We met up as soon as it was possible and - having both been put through the ringer - all of our hurt and disillusionment just poured out into our first song: “The Boulder”. This forged a bond between us, because even though we were barely more than acquaintances at the time the stuff we shared was deeply, deeply personal and vulnerable. We have been friends ever since.

And contrasting this, Benjamin Longman was the first person I ever released music with, back when we were starry-eyed teenagers attending the BRIT School. They have since moved to Canada so our paths naturally diverged… but as soon as Ben touched base in London for a few weeks we booked a date and our song rolled out like butter. Like no time had passed at all. 

This is a collection of songs that truly symbolise creative freedom and joy. A celebration of songwriting and how it can be a powerful form of therapy. As the EP title suggests, in a world that feels more and more disparate and divided, sometimes it takes an exchange of thoughts, insecurities and melodies to realise that we are in fact not alone. It’s okay. We all need a mirror sometimes.

A Mirror Sometimes

In Your Arms

Someone is a British musician and visual artist. Her upcoming album Owls weaves dream-tinged tracks ranging from dark and brooding to ecstatic, hands-in-the-air anthems with sound effects and foley interludes to create a journey through an unnamed city so rich it plays like a film. “Suddenly” is the first single to be released, a track that simmers with beauty and perfection, only to flip it to a darker, threatening place and finally exploding into a trancelike outro. It is about that split second when life as you knew it is turned upside down. A velvet-gloved shadow creeping through the cracks, making everything seem distorted and unfamiliar.

Suddenly

I'm Only Brokenhearted (feat. Klangstof)

A romantic lament from the point of view of a chronic outsider, watching the world go by and struggling to find their place in it. The song was written and recorded over the space of a single night in a coastal spot in Brighton.

Written, Recorded and Produced by Tessa Rose Jackson, Christopher Matthewson & Darius Timmer

LYRICS -

I washed out all my energy on splitting hairs 
Pushed myself to reinvent what maybe wasn’t there 
To identify a common thread

‘Fore I cross the line
Just to pass the test
Such a funny thing to be the anti-hero

One pint in, barrier down
Spilling to a friend
I make a fist, guilt on the brow
Is it me or them?

Such an angular choreography
That I stumble through, trying to find my feet 
Put your hands together for the anti-hero

And the pendulum swinging overhead 
Carries all the weight of the words I’ve said 
Could somebody ever love an anti-hero?

Tessa Rose Jackson & Franklin Mansion - Anti-Hero

Written by Tessa Rose Jackson & Milo Groenhuijzen
Produced by Tessa Rose Jackson

LYRICS - 

You had a plan
Used to boast to your friends,
Wouldn’t shut up about it
‘Wait for it, man
I’ve got time on my hands and I’m working on it.
‘Cos me and the band play each night for free beers
Like the Beatles did when they started.’

If I sing my heart out
And I push that boulder up that hill
I’m a superhero
I... Aren’t I?

It’s a sign of the times
Or it might be vitamin D deficiency
Just a little decline
One that comes with the job, not a personal thing

So I sing my heart out
And I push that boulder up that hill
I’m a superhero, I thought
I... Aren’t I?

Lately you dread hanging out with old friends
And their good intentions
‘Any news on the tour? Was it all you hoped for, were there good reactions?’
You say: ‘Man, it’s been great!’
But you’re just saving face as your confidence fades.
Ooh...
Ooh...
Ooh...
Ooh...

Tessa Rose Jackson & The Shells - The Boulder

Illusion (From "Life is Strange")

This to me is a track that marries classic Hollywood romance with indie grit. The song has an almost tongue-in-cheek melodrama to it, so we thought: let’s push it all the way. It's a sultry, no-bullshit love song for a friend in the throes of heartbreak.

Written by Tessa Rose Jackson & Milo Groenhuijzen
Produced by Tessa Rose Jackson

LYRICS - 
Say that again with intent
and I’ll pretend that was your first try
I take offence when you close,
Like I’m supposed to just let you lie
Maybe then fake it just to please me, oh
trust doesn’t come easy 
but it can be done
I know you’ve taken to ghosting 
when you’re hosting a trial for one

Forget me not
your stick-in-the-mud
Might be old news
but I know you.
If your ship goes under,
you know I’ll be the one takes the dive

Shoulder to shoulder like we
slipped under covers when we were kids
I wish I could be your man,
just split in half and be everything
‘Cos lately all your loving falls through
and I just wanna fix you
right where it hurts
Spiralling out in the deep 
now I’m an echo to you at worst

Forget me not
your stick-in-the-mud
Might be old news
but I know you.
If your ship goes under,
you know I’ll be the one takes the dive

------
Many amazing people lent their craft to this song and I feel so grateful for each and every one of you.

Written by Tessa Rose Jackson & Milo Groenhuijzen
Strings arranged by Sam Rowe
Mixed by Darius Timmer
Keys by Darius Timmer
Drums by Dan Huijser
Mastered by Mike Hillier at Metropolis Studios, London
Strings Recorded at Baltic Studios, London
String Players: Coco Inman, Phoebe Snelling, James Cullen, Fraser Bowles, Katt Newlon, Sam Rowe, Hele Sanders-Hewett, Valentin Pinero, Evie Hilyer-Ziegler, Romana Szczepaniak

Stick In The Mud

Tessa Rose Jackson & The Shells - Stick In The Mud

Written and Produced by Tessa Rose Jackson & Benjamin Longman

LYRICS - 

Change like a promise
Promise me you might
When the curtain falls
Like a soft blanket
Change like the weather
Whether you still care
Careful, conscious

Change when your heart says
Said it from the start
Stay unsteady
Remain unready
Change is a premise
A premonition bell
Pealing, revealing

Cut my ties
No more hell or high water
We’ve all broken on these shores
Do you know what you came here for?

Change is a compass
Encompassing a whole
Overthrowing
Rites unknowing
Chance is a symptom
Sympathetic change
Tender... remember...

Cut my ties
No more hell or high water
We’ve all broken on these shores
Do you know what you came here for?

And let the current carve
Score out the fringe of your silhouette
Is the dawn not an open door?
How could you know what you came here for?
How could you know?
How could you know?
How could you know?

Tessa Rose Jackson & Benjamin Longman - Hell Or High Water

Written and Produced by Tessa Rose Jackson & Nana Adjoa

LYRICS -

Tell me what you’re thinking
I’ve been low for days
Tripped up by the same thing
And who’s to say who’s to blame?
Drinking by the double
I’ve played hard to read
Work back from the ending
And dim the lights, set the scene, oh...

Take it easy on me, just
help to douse this wildfire
Trace it back to believin’
I’m burning up through this wildfire

Gentle suffocation
I’ve been so immersed
Tearing out the chapters
Who followed, who was first?

Take it easy on me, just
help to douse this wildfire
Trace it back to believin’
I’m burning up through this wildfire

But if it takes a little time
I’m gonna be here still
Poised on the edge, I know how it feels
Little poison for the break, it
seems I can read your mind
Keeping warm by the wildfire

Tessa Rose Jackson & Nana Adjoa - Shadow Song

Written by Tessa Rose Jackson, Caoilian Sherlock & Darius Timmer
Produced by Tessa Rose Jackson & Darius Timmer

LYRICS -

Small talk
Everything we’ve ever said
Save your breath
Asking me if I’ve moving on
The evidence says I haven’t yet

Singing along with the dial tone
Call it a sad duet
Can’t think of a thing to say to you that I won’t regret
So many hurts unanswered
So many endings left to unpack

Who’s to say
What to do?
How am I to know?
Where’s your love
When’d it die?
Why’d you let it go?
You let it go

Four lines
I’ve been tracing through the memories of the great abyss
And I’ve heard you call
But I’m moving on to bargaining
No need to reminisce

So I’m singing along with the dial tone
Sound of a sad duet
Can’t think of a thing to say to you that I won’t regret
So many numbers counted
Counting down the days

Who’s to say
What to do?
How am I to know?
Where’s your love
When’d it die?
Why’d you let it go?
You let it go

Tessa Rose Jackson & Caoilian Sherlock - Sad Duet

So This Is Lonely (From "Life is Strange")

Wake (From "Life is Strange")

Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Official Soundtrack)

I Think You Change (From "Life is Strange")

Under & Over (From "Life is Strange")

Written & Producted by Tessa Rose Jackson and Darius Timmer

LYRICS
Tread light
Tread light the silence is sacred
Though I’ve hated it before

I shook off the dirt but I’m home now
And the light’s still on

With one ear to the door 
I can hear the sound 
The old swing clock in the hall
Has got me thinking about

The bricks that make the building
And the earth that feeds the garden

Moon rise
I’ve laid a trail, you can find me
Where the ivy meets the stone
Bring me a seed you can plant it
And I’ll guard it close

With one ear the ground
Hear this all again
Trim the roses in spring I’ll 
Tell you secrets about

The bricks that make the building
And the earth that feeds the garden
The breath that helps the child sing

There’s new light here to find
Brave it for me now
When October arrives 
Tell them stories about

The bricks that make the building
And the earth that feeds the garden
The breath that helps the child sing
And the weight that makes the clock swing
The blood that birthed the marrow
And the bow that shot the arrow



-------
CREDITS
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar - Tessa Rose Jackson
Keys - Darius Timmer
Backing Vocals - Hattie Whitehead, Darius Timmer
Flute - Perinne Feriol

Engineered by Johannes Buff
Mixed by Darius Timmer
Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios

The Bricks That Make The Building

Taken from the forthcoming new album "The Lighthouse" - out on January 23rd 2026.
Pre-save here: https://hypeddit.com/h0rdd5
For tour dates and more info check - https://linktr.ee/tessarosejackson

Have you ever found yourself in a heated argument with a loved one, when suddenly you realise… you might be in the wrong? But you’re simply too invested to just gracefully admit defeat and back down? Well, this happened to me once. Okay, maybe more than once. But this story pertains to a specific time last year. My partner (Darius) and I were having a row about something - most likely trivial - and I had a lightbulb moment such as this. Uh-oh. Pretending to need some space to ‘blow off steam’ I went upstairs to my studio to puzzle together what to do or say next. Almost mindlessly, I grabbed a guitar off the rack and started noodling while I put my thoughts together. And within twenty minutes, ‘By Morning’ had tumbled out. It took me by surprise. Gingerly, I called for Darius to come here, please. He did. I played him the song. He forgave me.

LYRICS -
Oh, don’t lean closer now
The hands of ire around my throat have found
A way to make me singe the berried vine
Oh, I, me, mine, the curse
Provoked by vanity, no honest word
Can come from it I know
So let me lie

From the corners of the bedroom to the kitchen floor
We could stain the carmine carpet
Like the couples before us
But I don’t think we’ll feel the way we feel at all
By morning

Oh, black wave overhead
I let it break above my heart again
The water has a way of creeping through
Ooh, forgive this part of me
I haven’t felt this way since 23
And I’m struggling to wing the way you do

Cos it took a while to see it but the orchard’s in bloom
And the apple doesn’t fall too far out from the root
Don’t believe a word I say, I’ll make it all untrue
By morning

I’m a solar-powered thinker with the sun in my veins
Guess I carry fuel around with me until the light wanes
Just promise to be patient I’ll turn whole again
by morning


CREDITS -
Written & Performed by Tessa Rose Jackson
Recorded by Johannes Buff at Shorebreaker Studios
Mixed by Darius Timmer
Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios

By Morning

Written & Produced by Tessa Rose Jackson and Darius Timmer

LYRICS
What a waste, what a shame,
Could we start this over?
Or better still, let the hill worth dying on crumble 
This black hole will swallow us whole if you let it 
It’ll break unless it bends, so let it bend
Let it bend 

For the sake of curiosity
Entertain the eerie thought with me 
Fear bangs the drum
Let it thrum, let it thrum 

Who am I to rely on a final outcome
Take a beat, let it be and breathe it out
Chorus to chorus all us souls know the cadence 
Simmer down, circle 'round, common ground 
Common ground 

Can you hold the thought up to the light? 
Can you catch the phrase and harmonise? 
Fear bangs the drum
Let it thrum, let it thrum 

Steeped in the knowledge 
That all of this will make way 
With a sweet irreverence 
The old moth to the flame 
The rush passed 
The loves last 

And the plenty bear the fruit of us
To the chain we make, the dust is dust 
Fear bangs the drum
Let it thrum, let it thrum

---------
CREDITS
Vocals, Guitars - Tessa Rose Jackson
Keys - Darius Timmer
Drums - Dan Huijser
Bass - Dave Wismeijer
Electric Guitar - Kevin van Moorsel
Saxophone - Jean Vernheres

Engineered by Johannes Buff
Mixed by Darius Timmer
Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios

Fear Bangs The Drum

Panto - A Sway We Go - V1

Forget Forgive is the most personal track I’ve written so far. It’s a really intimate lyric about battling some pretty nasty demons and, in overcoming them, figuring out the kind of person you want to be. I wrote and recorded it all in one night (between the hours of 11PM and 4AM) in my home studio in Amsterdam. Just bass guitar, vocals and a sneaky little mellotron and kick towards the end. Some songs take ages to fine-tune and hone, but this one felt like I was just solidifying a strain of thought that had been flowing around inside my head for ages. Playing the song to other people actually always feels a bit icky, like reading an excerpt from my diary out in public. It’s super naked.

Forget Forgive

Chain Reaction

A tribute to the late Daniel Johnston. A brilliant artist, pure as they come.

True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston Cover) featuring Benjamin Longman

Written and recorded by Someone

I wasn’t looking for a hidden sign to
fall into place (fall into)
got it together, made a person of my name
but suddenly the words are hard to find, so
far out of range (far out, oh)
curse the magic you’re the master of again

Oh, I’m not in control
Oh no, not at all

I can’t remember how to talk to you
It’s everything that I wanna do
but every time that I look at you, I get lost 
Do you remember how to talk to me?
Can you relate, do you disagree?
Well tell me now, are you over me?
I’m still crushed!

‘Hold out your hand and look me in the eye’, you said to me (said to me)
But the walls are coming down, and I’m beneath
What’s the story, where’s your other half?
Yeah, where is she? (where is she?)
Just forget it, let the answer die with me.

Oh, I don’t wanna know
Oh no, no I don’t

I can’t remember how to talk to you
It’s everything that I wanna do
but every time that I look at you, I get lost 
Do you remember how to talk to me?
Can you relate, do you disagree?
Well tell me now, are you over me?
I’m still crushed!

I Can't Remember How To Talk To You

In early sleep 
there comes a whisper 
from your pillowcase
Speaks what you’ll repeat
and all believe it’s true

‘It’s such a good thing to let good things grow
You’re such a good thing, it’s all good: think so.’

You move easily
the map before you like a melody
moving blissfully beneath the sheet of truth

Cos everyday, every day is another illusion
On the road, on the road we’re all moving down
Give or take
Take-away
You’re tongue-tied and muted
Run along, run along in slowmotion now

When the salt dries on your skin
shake the doubt: we’ll meet again
in braver times

You’re in ecstasy 
When all your questions seem to multiply
There’s a quick release
A soma slumber, smooth

Cos everyday, every day is another illusion
On the road, on the road we’re all moving down
Give or take
Take-away
You’re tongue-tied and muted
Run along, run along in slowmotion now

Now you know, you know
Now you know, you know
Now you know, you know
Now you know, you know

Braver Times

Underline: 
make another move, the time is on our side
Yours and mine
strange enough the war is only half on time

Where do we go from here? She said
It’s breaking my heart
Try as I may to hold together
But it’s falling apart

Best believe
Company is only ever two or three
Water down
Water down your wine, oh darling
I’ll show you how

Where do we go from here? She said
It’s breaking my heart
Try as I may to hold together
But it’s falling apart

Where do we go from here? She said
It’s breaking my heart
Try as I may to hold together
But it’s falling apart

From Here

Two Satellites feat. C Duncan

Way back in 2016 I recorded a bunch of my favourite Air tracks as a personal passion project, never planning to actually release them ever. But a few months ago I thought: what the heck. Why not. I hope you enjoy!

Venus (Air Cover)

Surfing On A Rocket (Air Cover)

Cherry Blossom Girl (Air Cover)

Playground Love (Air Cover)

I like the way you never change even when I’m acting strange
you’re the perfect friend in every way
I never need to raise my voice ‘cos you’re here - if not by choice I will love you every single day
Every time I think of you
You lift me up and out of view You live in my phone
When I’m lonely you’re my hit I can lose myself in it
You live in my phone
Most people tend to get me down
I feel left out in a crowd
and every day I’m drifting further still that’s why I need you on my team you’re the safest company
a second empty is your job to fill
Every time I think of you
You lift me up and out of view You live in my phone
When I’m lonely you’re my hit I can lose myself in it
You live in my phone
You’re like a drug
in the palm of my hand, I’m stuck
I can’t help it, I reach for you
like I’m cravin’ a hit
I forget the things I used to do
You’re the one that I wake up to see
and you’re the last one, before I fall asleep I never thought I’d fall in this deep
I never thought I’d fall in this deep
I never thought I’d fall in this deep
This deep
This deep

You Live In My Phone

Once More, With Feeling

London based alt-folk and visual artist.

www.tessarosejackson.com

Tessa Rose Jackson

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