My Inspiration: Rojor – Winter Stories EP

Indie singer-songwriter ROJOR releases his new EP Winter Stories, a six-song collection that focuses on the cold, dark months, including solstice re-birth, snowfall, the loneliness of the darkness and the promise of new beginnings.

Here, the artist tells us more about what inspired his work…

Winter is a fascinating season and as a writer I find myself drawn to its sad mystery as life itself seems to shut down. The quiet cold, the bare branches, the magic of the snowfall and the ghosts at Christmas time. As a musician, I’ve always been interested in the melancholy sound of certain chord structures, and I love music with space, which allows a melody to breathe – these are elements I  combine on ‘Winter Stories’ to create a mood and atmosphere that hopefully captures the spirit of wintertime. 

A few years ago, I moved to rural North Yorkshire and one thing that really struck me was how this change immersed me in the natural world, in the sense that I became more aware of the passage of the seasons, the altering light and the different phases of the moon. These are things we can lose sight of in the artificial lights of the city however under dark skies the stars are clearer and our connection to the Earth more pronounced. Over a couple of years, I spent a lot of time walking through the bleak winter landscape, and during these dark months I composed a series of narratives,  which became the frozen heartbeat of the songs on Winter Stories.  

The icy isolation of winter is reflected in the tracks Something Lonely About You and Walking at Dusk, whilst Winter Solstice promises renewal and rebirth even in our darkest hours. Christmas Ghosts reminds us of those we’ve lost and miss – emotions that are often to the fore during the festive season. Add to these the heartache of Sending Out a Sign and the fragile Scared of the Rain and you have a collection of songs and storytelling to haunt any winter’s day.  

Light the candles, pour yourself a mulled wine, gather around the fire and give it a listen.