Jenny Gillespie song premiere for 'Dhyana by the River'

Jenny Gillespie

San Francisco artist Jenny Gillespie's music is intense. One of those artists you can't really listen to on public transport - it's better to tune in at home, curled up in an armchair with a glass of wine.

The fleeting, light piano that darts ahead of distinctive layers of guitar, the shimmer of the snare; her sound really draws the listener in, and that's before you get to her exquisitely light, lilting voice.

We're premiering her latest single "Dhyana by the River" ahead of the UK release of her album Cure for Dreaming - think Sarah McLachlan, Rachel Sermanni, Kate Bush, etc.

Listen below and let us know what you think.

Q&A with Jenny Gillespie

What have you been listening to recently?

I've recently been listening to French singer Emmanuelle Parrenin's album Maison Rose from the late 70s. My friend who is also a musician and mom sent it to me and for some reason upon opening I thought it was a children's album as the cover is so innocent, flowery, almost naive—maybe I've been listening to too much Raffi! But the music immediately arrested me, it's a gorgeous blend of French folk music and gutsy experimental ambient/noise elements fronted by a flawless, sensual vocalist.

Have you got any plans for summer 2016?

The only plan I really have is to give birth to my second child, another little boy in July 2016. I have begun tentative work on a new project that I'm hopeful I'll putter around on before and after the birth, but mostly want to focus on tending to my own self-healing after the birth and taking care of both my little ones, and maybe getting in a walk, book or movie whenever I can!

What was the first gig you ever played, and what’s been the best so far?

The first gig was at fourteen singing with my sister at an open mic Capitol Caffe in Springfield, IL...I believe it was “Lightning Crashes” by Live??? It's funny there's a lyric about placenta in there, I had no clue back then what these Live dudes were talking about and now I have such intimate knowledge of it. The best so far has been sitting in a stairwell singing “Always Something There to Remind Me” for four hours during a “theatrical” fashion show in a clackety hotel, a kind of volunteer gig for a friend of a friend during Paris Fashion Week three years ago. It was almost as good as a meditation retreat; towards the end I was completely zoned out singing that damn song over and over again but also enjoyed having some fabulous French designer dress me to the nines with minidress and a beehive bouffant, a look I don't really don in my everyday life.

Cure for Dreaming is released in the UK on 13 May 2016