herbal tea
About
There’s a certain stillness that lingers before dawn, where shadow and light softly trade places. The world feels slowed, and memories blur with nostalgia. It’s in these moments that Hear as the Mirror Echoes, the debut album from British artist Herbal Tea, takes shape.
After years of unhurried home recordings and the quiet power of word-of-mouth, the music of Helena Walker found its way to Orindal Records, the Chicago label known for its deeply curated roster and for introducing artists like Wednesday and Gia Margaret. It was a natural fit, a slow-building, organic trajectory that mirrored the spirit of Herbal Tea.
Existing in a kind of fog, like waking from a dream you only half remember, this is the kind of album you don’t just listen to; you live inside of it for a while. The songs were built from late-night demos that gradually bloomed into expansive arrangements, widescreen and layered, yet still intimate and undeniably lo-fi. Fragments often appear for only a moment: a reversed guitar, a disjointed piano, or a spontaneous ambient texture that favours mood over structure. There’s tape hiss, distortion, delay, soundscape elements, swelling crescendos and muted acoustic moments. The album draws on dream pop, ambient folk, shoegaze and lo-fi recording techniques, but its architecture feels entirely its own, with every song belonging to its own distinct world.
The influences (Sparklehorse, Imogen Heap, Sharon Van Etten) are there, but so dissolved into the atmosphere that what remains is entirely Herbal Tea. “Sharon Van Etten's 'Tramp' came into my life at a time when I really needed it.” Helena says. “She showed me that songwriting could be a form of therapy.”
The songwriting is melodic and haunting, and there’s an otherworldly quality in the way it softly reimagines the familiar. From the 70s folk-inspired simplicity of “Driving Slow” to the alternative melancholy of “Kitchen Floor (4AM)”, the album flows through an emotional terrain that ties the songs together. “Kara” draws on ethereal science fiction ideas, “Frank” stretches the first take of a phone demo into unfolding cinematics, and “Sundown” turns a song backwards to find something new in its reflection.
Each track holds its own history, and carries the delicate courage of someone who kept going without the aim of being noticed. “Some of these songs have lived with me for years, so it’s like opening up a time capsule and letting the light in at times.”
There are recurring images of transience, flying, swimming, and weightlessness. “It’s about impermanence, trying to live with your own reflection when it feels fractured, and not always feeling at home in your body or your surroundings.” she explains. "Some lyrics are stream-of-consciousness; written through periods of depression and anxiety, others are lifted from dreams or old diary entries.”
The opening lines offer a raw entry point. “Garden” begins with the stark confession “I don’t belong here anymore”, “Grounded” gently opens with “I’m lost in a moment. It happens all the time.” This kind of vulnerability makes for lyrics both comforting and mournful. “A friend once said it made them want to take a long bath and have a cathartic cry they didn’t know they needed.”
Helena’s vocals are at the centre of Hear as the Mirror Echoes, though rarely in the spotlight: submerged within the mix rather than above it. “Most of the final vocals were recorded at the time of writing, capturing whatever I’m feeling in real time as the song takes shape,” Helena says. “Sometimes the first take holds something I can’t recreate, even if it’s imperfect.” Laden with rich harmonies, her voice is gentle and somewhat ghostly, yet with an undercurrent of emotional gravity. “I’ve always loved the crackly vocal tones of early ribbon microphones, like those used by Ella Fitzgerald or The Ink Spots,” she says. “Their incredible vocal abilities paired with that distinct soft distortion creates such an eerie beauty that inspires my own recordings.”
Though primarily a solo project, Hear as the Mirror Echoes was co-produced with Henry Sharpe; multi-instrumentalist behind Sleep Radio, label manager at Gold Day, Helena’s childhood friend and closest collaborator. A culmination of years spent recording in living rooms and bedrooms across Bristol, usually at odd hours, using whatever equipment was available. “Since the very beginning, there's always been this special musical connection between us. Henry has this rare ability to hear what’s in my head before I even explain it. It's almost telepathic. This album wouldn't exist any other way.”
The pair are the epitome of DIY, performing all instruments themselves and spending nothing on recording, mixing, or mastering: skills they honed throughout the making of this project. “We write and record using basic home equipment. It's always been makeshift: often just SM57 mics, basic practice amps, hand-me-down old keyboards, free plugins and wherever we can get access to piano. It’s never been about having the best gear, just capturing a specific feeling.”
A handful of details were also recorded in the basement studio of Bristol’s venue The Louisiana, with friend Jonny Allan (of Happyness). “Jonny’s creative positivity helped finalise songs that had lived on my laptop for years, and made it special to bounce ideas around with someone we trust.” The additions were subtle: a delay-drenched Rhodes piano, a few lines of bass, and ambient studio bleed all woven into the heart of the album. “It also gave us a chance to finish ‘Submarine’, with Henry on drums. It finally felt like the sound we had envisioned for the album was complete.”
Over time, Herbal Tea has built a special audience that connects to her music, not through algorithms or features, but through something more personal. Though cautious with her live performances and with little promotion, her songs have a way of travelling. She has been personally invited to support artists she deeply admires, including a UK tour with Gia Margaret and a sold-out Union Chapel show opening for Ex:Re. These invitations reflect something crucial about Herbal Tea’s presence: her work is often passed along privately from musician to musician, admired for its emotional weight and rare sense of atmosphere. It's the kind of project that finds you when you need it.
“I’ve always felt like a bit of an outsider, and making music is my escape. I hope this album can be that escape for someone else.”
Hear as the Mirror Echoes will be released by Orindal Records (US) and Gold Day (UK) on August 29th, 2025.
