Family Business

Family Business is a five-song project about growing up, identity, family, and the emotional things people inherit without always realising it. I wanted the project to feel personal but still relatable, because family is something almost everyone has some kind of relationship with, whether that is comforting, complicated, funny, painful, or all of those things at once.

The title Family Business has a double meaning. It refers to family as something intimate and private, but also to the idea that family can become work: something you have to manage, understand, carry, and sometimes break away from. The songs look at different parts of that experience, from childhood and memory to pressure, change, independence and emotional self-understanding.

Musically, I wanted the project to sit between indie pop and singer-songwriter styles, with each track having its own identity while still feeling connected by the themes. The project is influenced by artists who combine emotional honesty with strong storytelling, including Lorde, Florence and the Machine, Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell.

The project has also been collaborative. Working with Josh Croly, Imogen Danbury, Emma Hampton, Ann O’Connor and others helped me understand how songs change when other people bring their own musical ideas and schedules into the process. That was sometimes difficult, because I had to wait for studio time, fit around other students, and compromise creatively, but it also made the project feel more real and professional.