"Every day I wake, wait for the tragedy" sings Emily A. Sprague, as the very opening line of Jellywish, the fifth LP for her New York-based band Florist.

It sets the tenor for an album whose songs Sprague wanted to write from a "zoomed-out perspective", moving from writing about personal relationships to her —and our— relationship to each other, to the planet, to humans as a species.

"I believe that the most actionable thing I can do is make music that just gently introduces thoughts and feelings into people's world," Sprague offers.

"I don't want to name this, that or the other issue, specifically, and then say 'you have to pay attention to this, you have to do something about it'.

"[Instead], the general way of thinking about life, thinking about having empathy and care for each other and our planet, but also having this will to go on, to not only have hopelessness, that's all placed into the songs. Like subliminal messaging."

Talking to Anthony Carew on The International Pop Underground, Sprague discusses her goals for Jellywish, her fondness for gentle music, people's perceptions of Florist, and how she thinks about dying every day.

Feature image: V Haddad