Music is about more than just the notes you play. Sometimes music is as much about the notes that you don’t play. It works in much the same way that it does in film. How a moment of silence can build tension or drama, or draw you in to focus attentively on a specific scene. There have been plenty of great show-stealing vocal performances this year, but none are offered up as confidently as those found on Winnie Raeder’s debut EP From Here. The record plays out like a movie scene, an emotional climax wherein this leading lady bares her soul and ensures that you’re invested in her story.

From Here‘s bare bones arrangements pull off the all too rare feat of making it feel as though the whole world falls still to listen with you. Musically each track forms a simple frame of soft acoustic guitar and delicate piano, at the centre of which lies Winnie’s transcendent vocals. From the soulful pleas of ‘Don’t You Dare’ and the electronic tinged harmonies of ‘Still’, to the powerful chorus of ‘I Wear A Ghost’ and the endlessly heartbreaking ‘Are You Waiting?’ with its calls of “is heaven half as beautiful as you?”. This Danish born singer/songwriter has a one in a million voice. Winnie’s take on heartbreak is as articulate as it is passionate, a true display of an artist pouring their very soul into their work.

Winnie’s debut EP From Here is out now and is perfect for fans of Sampha, Joni Mitchell and the softer side of Jeff Buckley.