Brooke Combe isn’t one to hide her emotions – it’s all there on record. A brief major label dalliance saw the Scottish vocalist tipped to breakout, but it could be her independent debut which most aptly pins down her voice.

Out now via Modern Sky, ‘Dancing At The Edge Of The World’ is an absolute stormer – vintage styled soul that feels totally refreshing, Brooke Combe isn’t satisfied with retreading old ground, instead finding her own unique place within an R&B lineage.

Produced by James Skelly, it’s a crisp 32-minute document that pulses with energy. Revelatory songwriting set to a Motown backbeat, ‘Dancing At The Edge Of The World’ offers tales of small town escapism, love lost, and the vitality of music in her day-to-day life.

CLASH caught up with Brooke Combe to find out more.

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This album feels like a reintroduction for you – when did work begin on it? Did you know what you wanted to achieve from the outset?

I think when I parted ways with Island Records, the album pretty much wrote itself. For months prior to this, I was so in my own head, being sent to various songwriting sessions with amazing credible producers and songwriters really knocked a lot of my own confidence in my abilities, which instantly I knew was not a good feeling.

I had a couple of old ideas from like five years ago on my phone that ended up on the album. We probably made a conscious start to the album in about 2022 though.

How does songwriting work for you? Do you tend to get ideas down quickly, or is it laboured? What’s the root of it all, do you think?

I’m not usually someone that has the ability to say, “okay right, I’m gonna write about this specific idea I’ve got”, I’m someone who needs to feel a feeling that makes me want to write. Or be moved by a chord structure. I’m trying to get better at the storytelling side of things now, however.

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James Skelly plays a huge part in the record; how did you meet? What was that creative relationship like in the studio?

James and I met in 2020 when I first started coming down to Liverpool Parr St. I think James and I have a really good understanding of each other, hence why creating music together works so well thus far. He sends me a lot of music, book and film recommendations so my creative palette is always expanding. Sometimes James will send ideas to me and I mess around to see what’s gonna fit with my vocal etc or I’ll send him some ideas and he sort of crafts them into what they become.

This album more specifically however, a lot of the ideas were ideas I had in my head that Danny Murphy (my guitarist) and I demoed. This meant James had a clearer idea of where we wanted to go with the album.

You’ve said Liverpool is like a second home for you! What is it about the city that you vibe with?

I vibe with a lot of things in this city. First of all, the people make me feel at home because they’re always merry and happy to help, like the Scots and they’re misunderstood, like the Scots too. The scran in the city is another thing… wow. There are some seriously good Mexican scrans which is my go-to. I love seeing the culture as well in Liverpool. That’s one of the things that made me feel at home more straight away. I’m from the outskirts of Edinburgh, and sometimes when I’m walking around I just feel like I stick out like a sore thumb due to lack of diversity.

‘This Town’ is a fantastic way to open the album – a Northern soul style stormer! What inspired this track?

This track delves into what it can be like being from a small town. I feel sometimes people can end up with a certain mentality and a living for the weekend attitude which I felt I was starting to outgrow. Being from a small town can feel like a bit of a fishbowl too, where you know everybody’s business and vice versa.

’Shaken By The Wind’ is a really powerful vocal – where does that emotion come from? What’s it like to sing that one live?

I really enjoy playing that song live because it sits really well in my vocal range. I’ll be honest, it just comes from my soul, the emotion. I don’t really know how to explain it haha!

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There’s a lot of subtlety to the arrangements – the acoustic guitar on ‘Guilt’ or the organ on ’If I Could Only Be Yours’ – did you experiment in the studio? Or did you have a clear idea of what you wanted to achieve?

We were under a bit of a time constraint whilst making the album so really didn’t want to waste a lot of time trying lots of different ideas. So, the organ on ‘If I Could Only Be Yours’ we pretty much knew it would be that sort of sound because of our demo. Same with ‘Guilt’. Fun fact, when Danny and I went to LA, we worked with a guy called Paul Butler from The Bees, on ‘Guilt’. Paul actually inspired most of the direction of the album due to his arrangement of ‘Guilt’. We all really liked the style and sound so decided to go with that.

How do you feel now the album is complete? The feedback from fans and critics has been amazing!

I’m so happy it’s finally out! It’s been a really long time coming for me. I’m sure the fans would agree. It’s nice to now sit in my lane comfortably and know what it is as a whole. Whereas my previous mixtape was just a load of unreleased songs I’d recorded really… there was no theme or coherency to it. It didn’t sum me up correctly. Well, it did for the time being but now we’re evolving.

The upcoming tour dates will be a real moment for you – playing the Barrowlands in Glasgow must be a dream come true! Do you have a close association with that venue?

I wouldn’t say I have a necessarily close association with it as I’ve never headlined it yet. However, I won the breakthrough female award in that venue in 2021 at the SMA’s so do have fond memories there. It’s an iconic venue that I’d actually written on my five-year venue bucket list. So, to be able to cross that off after April is something I’m really proud of.

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‘Dancing At The Edge Of The World’ is out now.

Catch Brooke Combe at the following shows:

April
3 Liverpool The Arts Club
4 Norwich Arts Centre
5 Birmingham O2 Institute
9 Bristol Thekla
10 London Lafayette
12 Manchester O2 Ritz
17 Sheffield Leadmill
18 Leeds Project House
19 Glasgow Barrowland

Words: Robin Murray
Photography: Sam Crowston

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