Jim Ghedi

On his new album Wasteland, Jim Ghedi has created something huge. Intense, brooding, bold, at times apocalyptic, and remarkably vast. A profoundly bold sonic statement that is some of the most rich, far-reaching and ambitious work that Ghedi has created to date ? pushing the boundaries of what what folk music can be in 2025. Wasteland is a record that is unafraid to plunge into the darkness of the modern world and embrace the weirder, edgier and more unnerving moments that come from doing so. It is an album that captures all the enormity of life from the micro to the macro, zooming in on the personal as well reflecting on broader societal issues. ?Wasteland is about the idea of a place once known or familiar that is now broken down and unrecognisable,? says Ghedi. ?It?s about exploring the process of watching someone?s surroundings and environment collapse.? And within that you have a lot going on. ?It also explores death, personal loss, grief, mental health and how the natural world provides solace and meaning for that loss and how these worlds blur into one another.? Lead single Wasteland sets the tone for the album, a remarkable and one of Ghedi?s entirely original composition. A stunning piece of work that while rooted in an environment being corrupted and broken ? ?there?s violence on these hills,? Ghedi sorrowfully sings, before claiming this is no longer somewhere that can be called home ? it is also a stirringly beautiful composition that soars and glides as it opens up, as sweeping strings swoop and in and out of Ghedi?s twangy electric guitar. The accompanying video for Wasteland was shot and directed by Jordan Carroll in various parts of the Peaks District. ?The idea was initially inspired by the album artwork featuring Jim sitting in a quarry, dressed in a 17th-century gentry outfit. We asked ourselves: why is this character there, asleep on a stool? There was something fantastical about it, so we filled in the blanks and built a story around it.? The decision to incorporate more fuller sounds, such as electric guitar and huge drums, results in a notable shift and evolution in tone for Ghedi. ?The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver them,? he explains. ?Incorporating the electric guitar in my songwriting was also a big part of opening the sound up, using drop tunings pushed me to use my voice in a wider range, which forced me to use falsetto a lot which I haven?t previously done before. That then opened the sound up and gave me creative ideas for bigger arrangements and to sonically really push things.? Recorded over two years at Tesla Studios in Sheffield, with David Glover engineering and producing, the album features a wide cast of musicians such as David Grubb (fiddle), Daniel Bridgwood-Hill (fiddle), Neal Heppleston (bass), Joe Danks (drums), Dean Honer from I Monster (synths), Cormac MacDiarmada from Lankum (vocals), Ruth Clinton from Landless (vocals) and Amelia Baker from Cinder Well (vocals). When Ghedi began working on this album he felt a little lost, unmoored, and unstable. Unsure of himself and the world around him. ?I felt very frustrated with the state of England after moving back home to Sheffield from living in Ireland for a couple of years,? he recalls. Yet while this album is one that has unquestionably come from a tricky place for Ghedi on a personal level, it?s also a record that contains flashes of hope and beauty amidst agonising demise and loss. ?It was definitely quite a dark time writing the album and working on it,? he says. ?But it was also a joyous and uplifting experience. There was a real positive force around it and it felt quite cathartic and so much energy and enthusiasm was getting put into it. Also, I think this album is the closest I?ve got to the sound I?ve been working towards over the years. It feels like it?s at a place which most represents me.? Despite all the turbulence that underpins this record, in the process of creating his masterpiece Ghedi has musically found a place he can now call home.