Heather Nova searches for the light on The Orchard, a collection of twelve songs about vulnerability, renewal, and the possibility of opening your heart again. Following 2025’s Breath And Air, the Bermuda-born singer-songwriter brings a hopeful perspective to the emotional honesty that has defined her work since Oyster and its breakthrough single, “Walk This World.”

Recorded in London over six weeks, the album pairs Nova with producer Tim Bran, whose work with London Grammar and HAEVN caught her attention. Bran also mixed the record and contributed bass, electric guitar, and keyboards. Working largely as a duo, they developed the arrangements through a close exchange of ideas, giving Nova’s songwriting a contemporary setting while preserving its personal character.

Behind The Orchard is a question about the words we choose to carry with us. As she wrote, Nova considered how lyrics repeated in the studio and onstage can become affirmations, taking on some of the power of a prayer. That awareness encouraged her to make room for joy alongside the difficult feelings she explores. The title track brings that intention into focus, asking whether the wonder and openness of childhood survive beneath the defenses we build as adults.

That spirit takes several forms across the album. “In The Path of Hurricanes” draws imagery from Nova’s native Bermuda, while “Sleep in Snow” places a love song against electronic accompaniment. “New Life” considers the release that comes with letting go, and “This Wild World” turns toward our relationship with nature. Closing track “Anchored” brings the focus back to family through a personal reflection on the bond between mother and son. Together, these songs give the album’s sense of renewal a human scale, rooted in the people we love and the world around us.