Essy Sparrow is on the rise

For outsiders — or, namely, city dwellers looking for some form of escape — coastal towns sell a certain allure. Existing on the edge of an ever-changing tide, embracing a slower pace of life, and taking in such profound natural beauty on a day-to-day basis is an enticing package. It’s what draws millions to Cornwall every year, a place that embodies that fantasy. But look to the locals, and they’ll demystify this idyllic image. There are so many everyday stories to be told that transcend the idea of coastal spaces solely holding up as “the place to get away from it all”, and singer-songwriter Essy Sparrow has taken on the task of telling them with her second EP, Gossip From A Coastal Town.The postcard version of Cornwall depicts a quaint stillness, but the image that Sparrow articulates hums with communal noise: pub chatter, harbour gossip, and rumours that circulate for years — indelibly cemented as local lore. "It's harmless, and there's also something kind of nostalgic about small towns, especially coastal towns," Sparrow says, beginning to trace that feeling back further than her own lifetime. "There's so much history of Victorian tourism, and Cornwall in particular has this ...