Alt-folk aficionado Jim Ghedi is now firmly anchored back on Steel City shores, bringing with him a fresh outlook and an energised sound to boot. The Sheffield-based musician left South Yorkshire for the west coast of Ireland just before the 2020 lockdown, where the relative isolation allowed him to take a deep breath, clear his head and, in his own words, “creatively reset”. Upon returning home, he began work on his latest album, Wasteland – arguably his most ambitious and emotionally charged work to date, unafraid to dive into the bleakness of the modern world while embracing moments of beauty when life throws them your way.
On the record, Ghedi is often intense, brooding and unafraid to ask vulnerable questions. A sense of disenchantment and detachment run through its ten songs, counteracted by shoots of hope and passion. “It’s about a place that you once known, which was familiar, but now is unfamiliar,” he says of the album’s title track. “And your relationship with the sense of maybe losing a place or losing, you know, your sense of a place and tussling with that.”
Listeners familiar with Ghedi’s shtick will recognise a striking sonic evolution, moving away from his folk roots into a more expansive, layered sound. “The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver it,” he explains. “Incorporating the electric guitar in my songwriting was also a big part of opening the sound up, using drop tunings pushed me to use my voice in a wider range, which forced me to use falsetto a lot – something I haven’t previously done before. That then opened the sound up and gave me creative ideas for bigger arrangements to sonically really push things.”
The album opens with ‘Old Stones’, setting the tone with an eerie, foreboding atmosphere. Proceedings begin delicately at first, with graceful vocals and deft instrumentation, before erupting into something explosive, as his voice is swallowed by a storm of sound. Subsequent tracks like ‘Wasteland’ and the stomping ‘Sheaf & Feld’ showcase this shift further – sweeping strings and crashing percussion brilliantly capturing both despair and resilience.
“I’m definitely taking a new direction on this album,” he reflects. “But ‘Wasteland’ in particular kind of covers this middle ground where it is electric and it is big, but it’s also soft, it’s melodic.”
As with previous albums – such as A Hymn for Ancient Land (2018) and In the Furrows of Common Place (2021) – he continues to use folk traditions as a lens to examine contemporary life. His working-class roots and relationship with Sheffield have always been central to his identity as an artist, and living in Ireland only made him feel closer to that. “Being out there made me want to own our own stuff more,” he says. “They’ve got all of their culture and music, and they’re so proud of it, they like play it to death… it’s inspiring. Sheffield’s got an incredibly creative DIY scene and music scene and history – let’s be more proud and loud about it, you know?”
“The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver it.”
Delving deeper into the record’s key messages, he adds: “There is a strong working-class narrative and representation both within the traditional and original songwriting on the album. It was important to voice and choose material that represented or expressed issues that correlated with things going on around me.”
Among these is ‘What Will Become of England’, based on a recording by English folk singer Harry Cox from the Alan Lomax Archive, while ‘Trafford Road Ballad’, originally written by Ewan MacColl, tells the story of a northern dock worker who refuses to go to war.
“It’s about like a lad who just works on the docks in Salford, and the only chance for him to go and see the world is to go back in the army,” says Ghedi. “And he’s just basically like, ‘Fuck that.’ I’m not going to go and kill innocent people just for the sake of trying to travel.”
Despite grappling with some heavy themes, he insists Wasteland is not just about destruction but also optimism. “It explores death, personal loss, grief, mental health and how the natural world provides solace and meaning for that loss and how these worlds blur into one another.”
Recorded over two years at Tesla Studios in Sheffield with engineer and producer David Glover, the album features a wide cast of musicians, including David Grubb (fiddle), Daniel Bridgwood-Hill (fiddle), Neal Heppleston (bass), Joe Danks (drums), Dean Honer from I Monster (synths), Cormac MacDiarmada from Lankum (vocals), Ruth Clinton from Landless (vocals) and Amelia Baker from Cinder Well (vocals).
Photo: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
With Wasteland out on 21 February, Ghedi is preparing for a special homecoming show at Sidney & Matilda on 6 March, where he’ll showcase the album with a full-band performance.
Those attending the gig can expect something different from past performances. His shift to a fuller, heavier sound means a new kind of energy on stage. “We did a gig last year at Sidney’s, and half the audience were people who knew me for the folky stuff. Then we went into ‘Sheaf & Feld’, which is just a fucking slap in the face, really,” he laughs. “You could see half the crowd thinking, ‘What’s this?’ and the other half absolutely loving it.”
Despite the change in tone, he’s confident there’s something in the show for everyone. “There’s still stuff for people to grab onto… but there’s also something new in the mix. I just think, come and experience it. There’s so much going on in this city – just fucking go down, have a look.”
For Ghedi, Wasteland represents both a culmination of his past work and the beginning of something new. “It feels like a completely open door now… anything’s possible, which is really exciting. I think this album is the closest I’ve got to the sound I’ve been working towards over the years. It feels like it’s at a place which most represents me.”
Jim Ghedi plays Sidney & Matilda on 6 March. Tickets (£15) available here.
