Florist
Jellywish
Double Double Whammy [2025]
“Florist paints with feeling on Jellywish—an album that listens as much as it speaks.”
Album Overview: Florist formed in New York as a group of longtime friends and collaborators, centered around Emily Sprague—also known for her ambient solo work. Since the mid-2010s, the band has carved out a space for themselves in quiet, introspective folk, often infused with vivid natural imagery. With albums like If Blue Could Be Happiness (2017) and their self-titled Florist (2022), they’ve slowly expanded their reach without losing the bedroom-recording intimacy that defined their early sound.
Jellywish is both wide-eyed and deeply inward-looking. It imagines a version of reality where our surroundings—emotional, spiritual, ecological—are layered and ever-shifting. The album doesn’t seek resolution or clarity. Instead, it offers a mental space to ask hard questions and sit with the unknown. Through loosely connected vignettes, each track contributes to a shared atmosphere of wonder, unease, and deep presence, all while keeping the music grounded and tangible.
Musical Style: This is minimal folk, colored by atmospheric textures. Acoustic instruments form the backbone, while synths, field recordings, and soft vocal harmonies push the sound into more unexpected spaces. The arrangements feel loose and conversational—like friends playing together, not musicians trying to perfect a take. The songs resist speed or volume, instead holding still and letting subtle details slowly rise to the surface.
Evolution of Sound: Florist has grown from sparse, hushed ballads to more layered and immersive compositions. While earlier records leaned into simplicity, Jellywish introduces added textures—melodic and ambient—that feel more expansive and imagistic. The songs don’t build to obvious peaks. Instead, they flow and unfold, reflecting the band’s shift toward mood and atmosphere while keeping their signature intimacy intact.
Artists with Similar Fire: Fans of Lomelda, Grouper, Adrianne Lenker, and early Iron & Wine will feel right at home. There’s also a kinship with Julie Byrne and Hand Habits—artists who respect traditional folk structures but aren’t afraid to bend and stretch them in emotional, exploratory ways.
Pivotal Tracks: “Have Heaven” opens the album with its central theme: the invisible threads connecting people and existence. It’s a quiet meditation on what we can’t see but still feel. “Jellyfish” brings a slight rhythmic lift but carries emotional weight, reflecting on environmental loss and the complexity of self-worth. “All The Same Light” is more of a mid-tempo track that captures a sense of haunting introspection wrapped in the stillness of wide-open landscapes that Sprague shapes with her voice. The imagery of photographs, moonlight, and directional uncertainty (“which direction does your bedroom face?”) suggests a longing to connect across distance or time, while the recurring question—”Can you feel the side of the eye that looks back?”—hints at a disquieting self-awareness, like being watched by your own past. “Moon, Sea, Devil” introduces a philosophical edge, questioning how we share space and responsibility with others. These tracks form the heart of the record—searching, unsure, and quietly powerful.
Lyrical Strength: Emily Sprague’s lyrics embrace uncertainty. Rather than offer clear answers, she leans into fragmented reflections and metaphor. Her writing feels like thoughts drifting in real time—unfinished and all the more relatable because of it. There’s strength in not knowing, and the album finds its emotional pull by sitting with that ambiguity rather than trying to resolve it.
Final Groove: Jellywish is a quiet triumph—an album that expands Florist’s sonic world without losing the closeness that makes their music feel personal. It’s gentle, but not passive; soft, but not slight. The songs unfold like dreams you almost remember—fleeting, fragile, and deeply affecting. As the band continues to evolve, Jellywish marks another confident step forward: reflective, rooted, and unafraid of the unknown. Where Florist goes next is a journey worth following.
FLORIST REVIEW HISTORY
Florist (2022)
FLORIST LINKS
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Double Double Whammy
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