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Visionary Dutch-British singer, songwriter and composer Tessa Rose Jackson returns in January 2026 with her third studio album, The Lighthouse — a haunting yet life-affirming reflection on ancestry and belonging. Ahead of that, Tessa releases another taste of the record in the shape of new single ‘Fear Bangs The Drum’, out October 24th.
Set to the sound of spectral atmospherics and a playful, addictive brass hook, ‘Fear Bangs The Drum’ is a song about acknowledging fear and allowing it to resonate, instead of trying to repress it.
“I am quite a fearful person myself — I worry about something happening to my loved ones, about the state of the world,” says Tessa. “Fear can be paralyzing. Recently, instead of trying to push it down, I’ve been allowing myself to let it bubble to the surface and just let it be for a bit — not acting on it, but also not fighting it. And then… breathe out. And let it go.”
“It’s funny that this song is one of the most celebratory songs on the record. The bridge is possibly my favourite bit of the whole album — this joyful expelling of all worry: everything passes. As will I. As will this. Be here now.”
Don’t miss the accompanying music video, made with director David Spearing and production designer Joseph Bisat Marshall.
Director David Spearing:
“Fear Bangs the Drum continues my ongoing collaboration with Tess and our small group of creatives. The idea was to start in a place of innocence — a perfect little handmade town — and slowly let fear infect it. What begins as a comforting world becomes a mirror of unease, until Tess’s performance shifts from vulnerability to control. For me, the film is about the moment you stop trying to shut fear out, and instead learn to live with it — maybe even use it.”.
Written during a secluded period in rural France, forthcoming album The Lighthouse sees Jackson stepping out from behind her acclaimed decade-long moniker Someone to embrace her own name once more.
Rich with ghostly folklore, spectral folk, and cinematic alt-pop textures, the record explores themes of mortality, memory, and gratitude — ultimately shining a light on life’s most fragile and beautiful details.
“The Lighthouse felt like a beacon,” Jackson reflects. “It’s an album that talks about death, but not in a purely dark sense. For me, it’s also about the celebration of life — embracing fears, identity, and the stories we inherit.”
Following the album, Tessa will embark on a new 11-date European tour, kicking off in Brighton on March 11th, 2026. Full dates below.
BIO
For 33-year-old Jackson, it’s been a colourful — if turbulent — journey. Raised in Amsterdam by two lesbian mothers, she sadly lost one of her parents at a young age.
“I learned to think about death and loss as something inescapable and vast very early on,” she says.
Her 2013 album (Songs From) The Sandbox was a success at the age of 19, but also an instant albatross.
“I realised very quickly that I wanted to go much deeper into music — into much more interesting waters.”
Rejecting performative pop, she spent the next decade behind a kind of anti-pseudonym, recording simply as Someone— a project that pushed the boundaries of art and music with experimental visuals, augmented reality, and immersive live shows.
From 2017, Someone indulged influences from Air, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Carole King, Feist, and Tame Impala to create beautiful dream-pop music. Releases included the 2019 EP Orbit, 2020’s Orbit II, and the albums 2021’s Shapeshifter and 2023’s Owls.
Ultimately, Someone dissolved into the ether.
“It allowed me to develop my artistry and allow it to shape without too much outside pressure,” says Tessa. “I feel like it did its job — and now I can go back to my own name.”
Revealed once more as Tessa Rose Jackson, she began peeling back the layers even further for a new era.
With The Lighthouse, Tessa distils the spirit of innovation she explored as Someone into something rawer and deeply personal. A bright beam of reassurance from the darkness, The Lighthouse is both timely and timeless, intimate and universal, sumptuous and spare.
It marks a turning point not just in Jackson’s career, but in her reckoning with memory, grief, and identity — an album that doesn’t just reflect her journey, but transforms it into something beautiful.
TOUR DATES
Tickets available here: https://www.tessarosejackson.com/tour
Wed 11 March 2026 — Brighton, Folklore
Thu 12 March 2026 — London, SJQ
Fri 13 March 2026 — Bristol, The Louisiana
Sat 14 March 2026 — Manchester, The Castle
Sun 15 March 2026 — Tynemouth, ALTR
Wed 18 March 2026 — Edinburgh, Leith Depot
Fri 20 March 2026 — Paris, l’Archipel
Sat 21 March 2026 — Amsterdam, Paradiso Noord
Mon 23 March 2026 — Berlin, LARK
Tue 24 March 2026 — Hamburg, Nochtwache
Wed 25 March 2026 — Cologne, Theater der Wohngemeinschaft**
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