Tessa Rose Jackson: “I hope we can all happily simmer in a big bath of big emotions!”
Tessa Rose Jackson is stripping The Lighthouse back to its emotional core.
The Dutch-British singer-songwriter and composer returns with The Lighthouse With Strings (Live at Metropolis), a new seven-track EP that reimagines songs from her acclaimed third studio album with string quartet, guitar and Wurlitzer. Recorded live, together, in a single day at London’s Metropolis Studios, the project swaps studio polish for something far more immediate — the sound of musicians responding to each other in real time.
Released on September 4, the EP arrives as Jackson prepares to take the same stripped-back setup on the road, with UK dates in Liverpool, London and Birmingham before further European shows in December.
The Lighthouse was already a deeply personal record, exploring grief, mortality, identity, memory and gratitude. But revisiting those songs has given Jackson the chance to hear them through the lens of time, experience and countless live performances. The result is a project that feels less like a retelling and more like a conversation between who she was when she wrote the songs and who she has become since.
Here, Jackson talks about embracing imperfection, finding new meaning in old lyrics, the emotional power of a string quartet, and why she hopes the new live show might inspire “a nice little cry.”
1 You’ve taken The Lighthouse and completely reimagined seven of its songs with a string quartet, guitar and Wurlitzer. What did you discover about the songs when you stripped away the studio production and heard them in this much more intimate form?
The whole process of re-recording these songs felt very meaningful for a number of reasons. The first being simply that since the time of recording the studio versions quite a bit of time has passed. I'm older, I've had experiences I hadn't had when first performing these words. Some lines have actually changed their meaning for me now. Others have because more deeply engrained, even more true. Not only this - we have toured with these songs now. We've played them to people, felt and heard their reactions. It might sound silly but doing that adds so much more depth, it makes me feel wider, more held. I think songs change with you over time, and it felt like such a privilege to have the opportunity to re-interpret these songs at a more seasoned point. And the added factor that we strip away everything and add this emotionally supercharged element of the string quartet meant I had to lean in to the storytelling aspect even more, and explore how to evoke the imagery of this record with these beautiful instruments that also have so much history to them.
2 You recorded The Lighthouse With Strings live, all together, in a single day at Metropolis Studios. In an era where music can be endlessly polished, what appealed to you about capturing these performances with all the imperfections and spontaneity left intact?
Honestly, I think the whole release of this record - everything I've done online and especially the live shows - has really impacted me personally when it comes to the subject of imperfection. I am a dreadful perfectionist and I challenged myself to open up and dare to be vulnerable on stage (terrifying) - but the response from the people in the room was so kind and appreciative that it really helped me work through a lot of hang-ups I had around the perception of myself and my music. It has taught me to embrace imperfections more - to celebrate them. Not just in theory, but in practice. So recording these versions in a totally unfiltered set-up, exactly like we would sound live, feels very fitting and is something I don't think the me of two years ago would have dared.
3 The original The Lighthouse explores grief, mortality, identity and gratitude, but you’ve described it as a celebration of life too. Has revisiting these songs changed your relationship with any of those themes?
Absolutely. Again, the big thing about making an album is the sharing of the subject matter with others. Every time I sing these songs, I believe the words a little bit more. Especially the songs about my mum. Singing those live has been really powerful, sometimes a little overwhelming. Really beneficial to my own emotional processing of the whole thing. And as some of these songs are also about celebrating the process of aging it is of course quite funny to sing the same words now being 2,5 years older than when I wrote them. It's a nice little reminder, from the me of then to the me of today.
4 There’s something incredibly cinematic about the string arrangements on this project. What is it about the sound of a string quartet that connects so strongly with you emotionally, and how did you approach translating these songs into that world?
Thank you! Well, I am lucky enough to work with people that totally understand my way of arranging and songwriting. Sam Rowe - whom I studies with at the BRIT School back when we were teenagers and who took A Level Film Studies with me, coincidentally on the subject of cinema - did all but one of the string arrangements for this one and he just knows exactly how to translate my songs into string arrangements. He has a knack of creating very strange arrangements that look mad on the page, but then once played everything falls into place. He's a conceptual thinker, like me. He also sees music in his head. So it's been just so wonderful hearing him translate the sound of chattering wild geese, or the sound of a big heavy ship leaning into a big wave or streaks of light in dusty air into something that can be played by a string ensemble.
5 You’re now taking the exact string-quartet setup from the recordings out on tour, including shows in Liverpool, London and Birmingham. What are you hoping audiences experience when they hear these songs performed live in the same raw, immediate way they were recorded?
I hope we can all happily simmer in a big bath of big emotions! I hope anybody struggling with grief or skewed self-image feels a bit more seen, a little less alone. I hope to evoke a big wave of optimism in these weird, individualist times. A sense of togetherness and calm. And if anybody needs it, maybe the show will inspire a nice little cry. I find those always help!
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