Ferris & Sylvester have always understood the power of contrast. Across their music, tenderness meets grit, folk warmth collides with blues-rock force, and intimate storytelling is lifted by harmonies that feel both timeless and deeply lived in. Now, with their upcoming third album, It’s A Joy To Be Alive, the married duo step into what may be their most open and emotionally resonant chapter yet.
Set for release on August 14 via their own Archtop Records label, the album finds Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester exploring joy not as something easy or uncomplicated, but as something hard-won. Shaped by personal struggle, parenthood and the premature birth of their son, the record looks at what it means to choose hope when life has tested you. It is an album built from vulnerability, resilience and the belief that even in darker moments, there is still light to be found.
Their new single “Jealous” captures that spirit beautifully. Originally written by Issy at 17 about the cool kids at school, the song has found new meaning more than a decade later. What began as a teenage reflection on comparison and insecurity has become a warm, country-rock meditation on the feelings we often hide from ourselves. With Issy’s effortless lead vocal and Archie’s grounding harmonies, “Jealous” transforms an uncomfortable emotion into something generous, human and quietly uplifting.
Having met in a blues bar in London ten years ago, Ferris & Sylvester have since built a life and career together, touring the world, selling out headline shows, playing festivals from Glastonbury to SXSW and earning acclaim with their previous albums Superhuman and Otherness. Now based outside the capital, where they are building a new studio and label hub in the West Country, they are creating on their own terms with more clarity, freedom and purpose than ever.
In conversation with House of Solo, Ferris & Sylvester open up about jealousy, joy, parenthood, creative independence, vulnerability and the emotional journey behind It’s A Joy To Be Alive.
Proofread and lightly polished for grammar, spelling and flow while keeping the answers in their original voice.
Interview Questions: Ferris & Sylvester
Your new single “Jealous” takes a feeling most people try to hide and turns it into something honest, warm and strangely uplifting. What made you want to confront that emotion so directly?
Issy: The song was originally conjured by Issy, aged 17, about the cool kids at school. But 10 years on, we realised it was still relevant post-teenagehood. It’s what music should do, we think. You hear someone sing about red-hot jealousy and it makes you feel less alone in your own feelings.
Archie, you have said that “Jealous” first came from Issy writing about the cool kids at school when she was 17. What was it like returning to that song years later and realising it still had something to say about adulthood?
Archie: Those feelings never really go away. Hopefully, you grow up and figure out who you are, but we’ll all still be jealous, angry and scared when we’re 90. We’re human, and it’s brutal and wonderful all at once.
Jealousy is often seen as an ugly or immature emotion, but the song treats it with real compassion. Did writing it change the way you both think about comparison, insecurity and self-worth?
Issy: It was definitely empowering to write something so exposing. The best writing is always courageous and has some kind of vulnerability. It’s one thing writing a song, though. Does it truly heal all of our insecurities? Of course not. But we can keep trying to dig deep and make the best work we can with the tools we have.
Issy, your vocal on “Jealous” feels both exposed and powerful. How did you want the emotion of the song to come through in the performance?
Issy: We wanted the delivery to feel pretty light and effortless, and to let the lyrics be the focus. I remember we kept listening to Sheryl Crow, the queen of cool and laid-back vocals. It’s a very wordy song, and when it came down to it, it was just about singing the words in the least affected way I could. It’s never easy though: the vocal equivalent of a duck on water, nice and smooth but working hard below the surface.
The new album is called It’s A Joy To Be Alive, yet it was shaped by some very difficult personal experiences. How did joy become the centre of the record?
Archie: We discovered that when you go through dark times, moments of joy become even more magical. There’s not a second of it that you take for granted. Food, music, walks, relationships, everything is heightened, for good and bad. Your emotional capacity stretches both ways. When we were writing the album, we were listening to a bunch of songs, “Here Comes The Sun” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” for instance. These songs are about joy, sure, but they come from a place of longing or yearning or darkness. That was the biggest lesson for us: joy means a whole lot more when the sun isn’t shining.
You have spoken about the premature birth of your son being part of the emotional backdrop to this album. How did that experience shift the way you write about fear, love and hope?
Issy: The truth is, it shifted everything. Our whole lives, our writing being no exception. When we first started out, we were interested in coming across as deep and mysterious. Pause for laughter. We didn’t even want people knowing we were a couple. When our son was born, we shed a few layers of skin and those things just didn’t matter anymore. We wanted to be truthful and vulnerable. Turns out, we’re hopelessly romantic and sentimental.
There is something powerful about writing about joy from a place of struggle rather than comfort. Did making this album help you understand resilience in a different way?
Archie: Resilience is such a good word for it. And yes, it did. We understand what it is to choose joy, rather than stumble across it. The most inspiring people are those who are kind, generous and joyful in spite of the pain that they’ve been through. We hope this album speaks to that.
You have described this as your most vulnerable collection to date. Was there a moment during the writing process when you realised you were opening up more than you had before?
Issy: I think we naturally started from a much more open place than we had done on previous albums. The brief was pretty simple: we wanted to write about joy in a sound reminiscent of the 1970s, and we wanted to tell our story. That didn’t make it an easy project, though. No matter how open we were, writing it was hard. Emotionally, it was exposing, and stylistically it was complex, with a hell of a lot of attention on the chords and harmony.
Across your music, you move through blues, folk, rock, Americana, psychedelia and country-rock. On this album, did you feel more freedom to let those influences collide?
Archie: We wanted to write 1970s pop-inspired love songs, while retaining our sound. In a way, because our vision was so specific, we were less “free” with the style than on previous albums. That’s a good thing, though. Limitations are good. It meant doing a lot of research and writing a lot of songs for it. We both grew as writers as a result.
You are not only a duo, but also a married couple and parents. How has your relationship changed the way you communicate creatively?
Issy: Creative communication has never been easy. We often have the exact opposite idea to each other. We’re a lot better at repairing things now, though, when a session doesn’t go to plan or we’re stuck in a creative rut with something. We don’t sweat it and start again. And when it works, it’s an utterly brilliant feeling, because we’ve made something we couldn’t have done on our own.
When you’re writing about deeply personal moments, how do you decide what belongs in the song and what should remain private?
Archie: Fundamentally, it’s the feeling that belongs in the song for us. The details of our lives creep in, but more often than not, the story can be told and we can be open and vulnerable without surrendering our privacy. It’s a fair point though. There are people who are completely open books in their art with nothing to hide. We’re not quite balancing on that tightrope, though we always set out to be truthful.
You met ten years ago in a blues bar in London. Looking back at that beginning, what do you think has stayed the same about the way you connect musically?
Issy: It was exciting to work out how our different voices and styles went together in the beginning. Archie was grit, guitar and blues, and I was folky with sweeter vocals. The combination of the two gave us something quite distinct, and we’ve used that throughout our career together, of course with licence to bend and break those rules in our writing too.
You are now building a new life outside of London, with your own studio and label hub in the West Country. How has that change of environment shaped the sound and spirit of this new chapter?
Archie: Although it’s a big change from when we first started out in South London together, it’s felt like quite a natural development. We both grew up in the countryside. We’ve always produced and released our own music independently. We’ve both had a deep desire to build something new and interesting in a label and studio setting. It’s early days, but we’re really excited about what will come from it.
Releasing the album through your own Archtop Records label gives you independence and ownership. How important is it for you to build the Ferris & Sylvester world on your own terms?
Issy: It’s really important. We never intended it to be this way; we would have jumped at a big shiny record deal back in 2016. But today, we’re so grateful to own our songs and have control over how they sound and how they’re released. No one knows what’s going to connect with people. Maybe nothing will come of these songs. But we’d much rather be who we are and say what we think is important than be chasing an algorithm.
After everything that has gone into this record, what do you hope people take away from It’s A Joy To Be Alive when they hear it in full?
Archie: It is a celebration of joy in all its forms. How to find it, to cherish it, to feel it when you least expect it, to lose it and to have faith that you will feel it again. The storm will pass; it always does. It’s an album to dance along to in the good times and also a place of hope in the bad. We want people to listen and be comforted and to have faith. It’s going to be okay.
