Having been born in 1959 and debuting in 2022, that's not an everyday occurrence. This makes it all the more special that Sioe's debut album The Waves Of Time succeeds in captivating the listener from the very first note. Her nine songs are like the annual rings of a tree with roots that extend to the legendary inhabitants of Laurel Canyon.

Her debut has a long history: from listening as a young girl to Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and other legends, writing her first songs purely for herself, raising two children, and many years of running her and her partner's inland vessel, where the sounds of the ship and the constantly running engines blocked writing songs. In Sioe's words: 'All I did about music was standing in the doorway to the engine room now and then to listen to the rhythm of our heavy, six-cylinder Deutz'.

The turnaround came when she went living ashore again, although it needed a long period of feeling increasingly unhappy to realise that what she really wanted was to become a musician. A vocal coach, the rediscovery of earlier songs like Someone Like Me and Les Enfants du Paradis, a first performance and an enthusiastic audience helped her to find the confidence and the courage to take the plunge and make the definitive switch to music.

A common theme running through Sioe's lyrics is the search for love and a sense of security: 'I had to regain confidence in myself and in life'. Besides the beauty of the songs, it is Sioe's mature and nuanced voice that stands out. She describes herself as a storyteller: 'The Waves Of Time is the result of life experience. My whole life is reflected in these nine songs. Delta Hotel, for instance, is about having to say farewell to a dear friend and the title song is a heartfelt indictment of incest and the sexual violence that so many women have to deal with'.

The Waves Of Time is released privately by Sweet Sioe Music.

‘Music has made me happy again, it is the best medicine for me.’