A haunting and delicate refrain signals the intro to Joyce Prescher‘s beautiful new single ‘Sleep Now’. Augmented by austere fingerpicked guitar, haunting cello and softly shuffling drums, Prescher sings of dreams, night and sleep as she explores the question “How much of yourself should you lose for someone else?” There’s a half-awake quality to the song, bringing to mind that brief window when we slip between the present and the sleep-state, where ideas percolate and fears and dreams ignite. It’s elegant and poetic in its hypnotic sway.

Dutch-born Joyce Prescher has slowly but steadily been making a name for herself on the Melbourne and national Americana and folk scene and will release her sophomore album Out Of My Mind later in 2022 on Cheersquad Records & Tapes.  Joyce’s music takes you back to days long gone with its gentle nods to 70s artists like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen while also positioning her as a contemporary of artists such as Jessica Pratt, Tiny Ruins and Joan Shelley.

The video for ‘Sleep Now’ was created by Georgie Durham and singer/songwriter Delsinki, whose songwriters-in-the-round show Sing A Song of Sixpence Joyce has been part of. After Joyce showed him her recordings on the way home from a run of Sixpence shows, Delsinki passed the song on to his partner Georgie, who is a video director. Georgie really connected with ‘Sleep Now’ and was excited to work on a video clip for the song.

The video showcases Georgie’s affection for working with nature’s treasures:  shadows, leaves and water, all recurring themes in Joyce’s songs too, and synced beautifully with the songs instrumental and vocal lines. This all results in a stunning piece of videography, really capturing both the fragility and strength present in the song.

‘Sleep Now’ is released Wednesday July 6th, 2022.