Disconnection can have a profound effect on creativity. Jemima Coulter and Ed Tullett had made two records and plenty of music together in the years preceding their enforced separation in 2020. However, when they finally made it back to each other post-lockdown, there were constraints that hadn’t previously existed. Following a couple of years of personal growth, as well as plentiful solo work, both Coulter and Tullett felt a touch of intimidation in each other’s company, like they’d drifted slightly off course from where they’d previously been.

That current had previously led them to release two full-length records under their Hailaker moniker – 2019’s self-titled debut and its 2020 follow-up, Holding – as well as a handful of standalone tracks including collaborations with Novo Amor’s Ali Lacey and S Carey of Bon Iver.

Aiming to disentangle that trepidation, Coulter made them put their instruments down and simply spend time in each other’s company again, to rekindle that friendship before trying to shape it into pop songs. Such an act of bonding worked, the aforementioned magic returning when they made it back to the studio and the pair quickly writing a handful of songs that would shape their striking new album Serenity, Now – their most ambitious and impressive work to-date.