Jody Prewett: stepping into the strange with Places Beyond

What happens when you take a finger-picked folk song, add the sound of birds, distant seas and windswept landscapes, and then fill the lyrics with ghosts, UFOs, standing stones and visitors from other worlds? For Bath-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jody Prewett, the answer is Places Beyond — an atmospheric second album that finds the songwriter looking far beyond the everyday.

Released in May, the record moves between intimate acoustic songwriting and expansive ambient textures, creating something that feels both rooted in the British landscape and slightly detached from reality. Its stories take in everything from ghostly encounters to crop circles and clairvoyants, while field recordings gathered by producer Tom Burgess help turn the album's landscapes into characters in their own right.

Following his critically acclaimed 2024 debut River Songs, Places Beyond marks a more exploratory chapter for Prewett. The album has already picked up radio support from BBC Radio 3 and KEXP, while a year of touring — including support slots with Emily Maguire — has sharpened his approach to performing these songs live.

We caught up with Jody to talk ghosts, ancient landscapes, the making of Places Beyond, and why sometimes getting lost in the woods is exactly what you need.

Places Beyond explores everything from UFOs and crop circles to clairvoyants, ghosts and standing stones. What draws you to these strange, unexplained stories, and how do they help you explore more human themes through your songwriting?

The first song I wrote for the set of songs that became Places Beyond was An Apparition. It is a tale of encountering a ghost whilst driving at night, so that really set the direction of travel in terms of the theme for the album. All of the songs seem to reference this idea of believing in things beyond the immediate sphere of perception.

I think there has always been an element of tapping into the otherworldly and mystical in my writing but it is certainly more in focus and pronounced this time. I have always had a fascination with stories of UFO mysteries in the American Midwest as well as the standing stones of the British Isles, so it has long been an ambition of mine to set this to music.

I haven't quite gone full Julian Cope but I do spend a fair amount of my spare time exploring neolithic monuments, getting lost in the woods and such. In my music I am always chasing things that represent an escape from the mundane, I guess.

The album has a really distinctive atmosphere, with field recordings of birds and windy moorlands woven into your finger-picked guitar songs. How important was the landscape around the recording of the album in shaping its sound?

My music is always connected to landscapes in some way. I have a bit of a lyrical fixation with referencing mountains, forests and rivers and I use landscape like a character.

There is one song on the album, Black Mountain Rose, which is inspired by the hills of Wales. The album was produced by Tom Burgess at a studio near the New Forest called Loud Cuckoo Land and I could see wild ponies through the window as I was tracking my guitar parts.

Tom has collected many hours of field recordings containing birdsong, windy mountainsides and the sea, so we decided to use them to link certain tracks together. It added a kind of eerie, ethereal atmosphere that really suits the songs and is woven into the music itself. One reviewer described the album as being like a self-contained weather system, which I really liked.

You've described musical inspirations ranging from Daisy Rickman and John Martyn to Fripp & Eno and Sufjan Stevens. How did those influences come together to create the sound of Places Beyond, and did the record develop in ways you weren't expecting?

When I was writing these songs, I found myself delving into a lot of ambient music such as the album Evening Star by Fripp & Eno. With the title track I was aiming for something along the lines of Wind on Water, a kind of immersive, meditative piece that evokes the ocean waves.

It was great to pick up the electric guitar again and build up textures, something I've not done in a long time. I also came across Daisy Rickman's Howl around the same time I was making the album and really love its timeless, haunting energy which conjures the ghosts of the ancient Cornish landscape.

On the song Wild Mind, I was definitely trying to channel a bit of Solid Air by John Martyn. I then found myself returning to an album I'd almost forgotten about from my twenties, Illinois by Sufjan Stevens. The latter inspired the narrative, folklore elements in the lyrics; stories about UFO sightings and American mysteries.

When I entered the studio in the summer of 2025, all the songs and arrangements were mostly sketched out but some songs, such as Oblivion and Magnolia Moon, evolved into sounding more like a band with bass, keys and percussion parts.

I also had no plans to use field recordings until I arrived at the studio, so there was an element of experimentation in the recording process that steered the album in a direction I wasn't expecting.

You've spent the past year touring extensively, including supporting Emily Maguire and playing venues such as Green Note and Cambridge Folk Club. How has that live experience changed the way you approach your songs and performances?

I have had the opportunity to play in a lot of seated spaces that have a pin-drop level of attention where there's nowhere to hide and every note is being watched intently.

At first, it can be intimidating. There's a certain formality and intensity to that experience. I've been the opening act for Emily so there's an extra pressure to win the audience over because they're not familiar with you; I enjoyed that challenge, finding ways to bring the audience along with me.

I come from more of a full-band background but as I've grown into being a solo performer and found my feet, I've learned a lot about delivery and the nuances of holding the attention of the room.

I think you can hear a real difference from my previous release, River Songs, in the way the songs are performed and that's certainly a result of regularly performing at places like Green Note and in folk clubs.

Places Beyond has already received support from BBC Radio 3 and KEXP, alongside some striking reviews. Now that the album is out in the world, what do you hope listeners take away from it — and where do you see your music going next?

It's been cool that the album has a bit of a crossover appeal with the ambient and alternative classical world; the title track got airplay on Elizabeth Alker's Unclassified show and also from Afrodeutsche on BBC Radio 3 Unwind.

I want the album to feel like a journey with a distinct beginning and end. I am now starting to think about performing these songs with another musician to make it a more expansive live experience. I would like to perform the songs closer to how they sound on the album.

It is nice not having a clear plan of where you are heading next though. I could end up playing the chillout tent at a wellness festival or channel my inner space rocker. We will see what happens.