We’re very happy to have some time with acclaimed and prolific producer, composer and vocalist Esbe; greetings and salutations, Esbe! Before we meander down the Q&A musical pathway, how is the freshly-minted New Year treating you and yours?

Lovely to e-meet you and thank you for asking, it’s been a fun but busy start to the year. There’s always this nice flurry when an album is released, and it makes for a very positive start to the year. And apart from a few chilly few days – lots of frost but no snow (in London) – it’s been quite an easy winter. I much prefer them like this, and so does the cat!

Major congratulations on your beautiful new single Footsteps! Starting at the top, can you talk a little about what inspired this beautiful tune?

Thank you so much! I love the sound of the guitar and recording it. When I’m tuning up, I doodle around with little riffs, and this was one (of many). I could hear other countermelodies and bass riffs in my head, so I recorded each of them, building the track and making the musical arrangement as it all unfolded.

Footsteps marks the very first single off of your upcoming LP La Serenissima which is set for an April 5 release. What made Footsteps the natural choice to lead off the charge towards the new album? Do you feel that it tonally represents what listeners will hear on the new LP?

I always liked Footsteps, but waited to see what a few trusted people thought, and without prompting, Footsteps was always one of the favourites. As I was writing and arranging it, I felt like I was back in Venice, taking a last quiet walk along the canals at night, and that’s the image I hope it conveys. On previous albums, I’ve made a conscious decision to produce in a particular way – either using specific sounds, orchestrations, or just my voice as on the totally a cappella, Blow The Wind Southerly. But I let each track on La Serenissima decide its own production fate, and went with what I felt was best at that moment.

Alongside the new single, a companion music video has also been released for Footsteps and it’s a showstopper – Congrats! Were you very involved in the behind-the-scenes production of the music video?

Thank you! I love doing videos and have produced a few. Previous ones where I’m not present were created with library footage, but Footsteps was filmed on my phone with a sturdy tripod. I do bits of creative imagining during the day, so I had a plan of how I’d edit before I filmed it. The time window for filming unfortunately coincided with the three coldest days of the year. I actually filmed two videos on two freezing cold mornings – there’s another one for Little Echo. I put a hot water bottle in my bag to warm my fingers on, but that went cold after an hour!

Speaking of that impending April 5 release of La Serenissima, can you give fans and readers a hint or three as to what they can look forward to with the new album?

I’m hoping that La Serenissima will take people on a listening holiday to Venice. Each track conjures up an image, either the deep foreboding canals at night, as on Shadow, or Canaletto setting up his easel to paint the wonderful Piazza San Marco on the title track. There’s also a mix of languages – English, Latin (on Te Amo, processional, like a monastic choir in medieval St Mark’s Basilica), Italian (a very new interpretation of the beautiful Amarilli, Mia Bella by 17^th century composer, Caccini), and Turkish (Palazzo). Palazzo is a track I’m particularly proud of, mainly because it proved the most challenging to sing. It covers two octaves, is very exposed, and requires a lot of control. Mixing and then mastering were also challenging – the production is very theatrical, with a grand orchestration of symphonic strings, a full brass section, woodwind and percussion. I have my friend Paul Chivers to thank for getting the final mastered sound just right.

Who was your producer on the upcoming La Serenissima album and what did the collaboration between artist and producer look like in the studio while working on the new music? Or, being a celebrated producer in your own right, did you undertake the producing duties on the new music yourself?

I always produce myself now. When I first began writing, I relied on either free ‘down-time’ or saving up and paying to record. Each time, I found I was thinking the same way as the producers but also learning what they listened for, so I set up my own studio and haven’t looked back! I like composing and arranging as much as precision editing and mixing. The whole process is so interesting and rewarding, and it’s great to trust your own ears.

La Serenissima marks your ninth studio album since 2018: WOW and congratulations! How is La Serenissima similar to some of your past music such as Blow the Wind Southerly? How is it different?

Thank you! I’m very lucky to be able to write and record whenever I want, and I’m always formulating in my head for the future. By the time I’m ready to start recording, I’ve processed quite a lot, so I’m raring to go. Each album or project has its own theme, either setting some poetry to music as on Desert Songs which is a collection of song settings, mainly of Rumi, or Mystra, inspired by the splendours of Byzantium. Travel is very important as almost every album refers to another place, often at another time in history. Wouldn’t time travel be the most brilliant super power! I’m going back to Egypt soon – in real life! – and will revisit the earliest pyramid, which inspired the album Saqqara.

I’m glad you mentioned Blow The Wind Southerly. I so enjoyed doing this album, rethinking songs we’re all so familiar with but making them sound a bit fresh and unexpected. Most of the songs are for four or five part harmony – except the crazy Three Blind Mice which has lots of vocal “mice” – so I scored all the parts before recording, tracking each voice maybe four times, like a choir. I’d love to hear these arrangements sung live, but sadly I can only sing one part at a time!

The title track for La Serenissima is set as the sophomore single release on March 1 and it’s a real pip – Congratulations! Can you talk about how this gorgeous track came into being?

That’s wonderful to hear, so glad you like it! I was thinking how Canaletto would have seen Venice in his day, preparing paints and standing all day creating his paintings with such immaculate detail. So I wrote the song from his perspective. It’s underpinned by a little mandolin riff, luscious strings and string bass. I sang this live with guitarist Peter Michaels on BBC Radio London and was so pleased to hear it works unplugged.

Musically-speaking, who inspires you?

This is a hard question to answer because I think we absorb lots of music without realising it. I love Stravinsky and Mahler, Paul Simon and Cole Porter. Indian classical music and the vocal harmonies of the Voix Bulgares and eastern harmonies resonate deeply too. One of the first songs I wrote – and recorded in downtime – was Someone, Somewhere which has these close harmonies. There’s not a style of music I don’t like, it’s just about hearing the best of the genre.

With all of this beautiful new music being released, can fans look forward to catching you on the touring/performing circuit in the coming weeks and months?

I stopped playing live during the pandemic and focused on recording, but I love to play live, so I am actually looking into this right now.

Your music is such an incredible fusion of different styles and genres which range from folk, jazz, classical and electronic. How did you hit upon this delightful musical cocktail? Is your music organic to who you are and all of the music which you have played, listened to and absorbed over the years?

I never consciously stylise, other than to take myself to a place, or time in history. We don’t really realise just how much music we absorb in our everyday lives, from radio, film and TV. But I don’t try to copy anyone as I think I wouldn’t attain anything quite so good!

At the end of the day, what do you hope fans walk away with after giving many-a-spin to your new singles Footsteps and La Serenissima as well as the forthcoming album set for an April 5 release?

I hope people are taken to Venice for a relaxing moment in their day or evening. I’d love for people to know the tune of the title track, I think it would be a lovely song to dance in waltz-time to at an old fashioned ball. Just knowing some people are listening and enjoying gives me the best reward, so that’s my main hope. Thank you for such lovely questions and I hope you have enjoyed a few moments in Venice with me today.