On past releases such as her piano-girded, subtly piercing 2012 song “Midnight Whistle” and the hushed, guitar-based 'Sleep Will Set Me Free' EP that followed later that year, Brooklyn-by-way-of-Dublin singer/songwriter Sorcha Richardson quietly fought through her struggles. “There’s a runaway/Poison train/Tearing through my/Sinking veins/But this midnight whistle/Won’t remain,” she sang on “Midnight Whistle,” and one was both crushed and comforted. The early-twenties musician rises to near celebration on latest track “Petrol Station,” (streaming below), a murky yet ultimately sunny electronica piece. “You’re coming over to my house,” Richardson gently repeats to her hesitant addressee, perhaps finding her own peace in the process. Sorcha Richardson performs at Pete’s Candy Store on 6/11 as part of the Northside Festival, and plays Rockwood Music Hall on 6/19. – Zach Weg

We added this song to The Deli's playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists - check it out!

At The Deli, we define “Alt Rootsy” or "Alt Folk" those artists that have a basis in American roots music yet manage to somehow veer off its traditional ways - hence the picture above.

Total submissions in this category: 38

Artists Qualified to the Poll's Next Stage (starting around 01.15):

1. Great Elk - 7.833 (out of 10)
2. Sorcha Richardson - 7.33
3. Derrick and the Black Sea - 7.16

Honorable Mentions (scores about 6.5):

Ben Pagano, Howth, Robin's Egg Blue, Tall Tall Trees, Everest Cale, Cole Williams, Nightmare River Band, XNY, Tess, Dan and Rachel, Erez and The End, Philip Lynch.

Jurors: Chrissy Prisco (Deli New England), Lucy Sherman (Deli Contributor), QD Tran (Deli Philadelphia)

The Deli's Staff

If there's one place where people keep their secrets locked away, it has to be our beds. Sorcha Richardson spends a lot of time here, whether ruminating on love, or attempting unsuccessfully to get out of bed to start her day. But mostly, she's sleeping… where a certain poetry finds its way through her gentle steel-string guitar shapes and soothing alto that seems to reach out and beg you to confide in her. In 'I Heart NYC' Sorcha ponders how much the city loves her…. show her just how much when she plays Glasslands on Feb 24.