Tea & Cake

About the album

As I'm getting older, I find myself connecting with so many of the words in these songs.

I spent a few years living in Tuscany, surrounded by medieval villages, photographing old weathered doors, windows and all the beautiful textures that caught my eye. I loved them so much that I even made a book and sold prints of my photographs.

I've always loved old things. I often wonder about the stories those houses could tell. The people who lived there, the lives they led, the laughter, the heartbreak and all the memories held within those walls.

Perhaps that's why these songs mean so much to me now.

Tea & Cake is about ordinary lives and the extraordinary feelings hidden within them. Love, loss, memories, growing older, finding strength and those little moments that stay with us.

Each song tells a different story, but they're connected by warmth, honesty and emotion.

I wanted to create a little world where listeners could lose themselves in the stories, recognise something of their own lives, and perhaps stay a while.

Released 5 September 2026 on AiLF Records.

Track by track

1. 1. Tea & Cake 3:25

   The song that started the little world of Tea & Cake. Three old souls, a few guitars, stories to share and always room for another chair around the table.

   It's about putting the world on hold for a little while, sharing the good days and the difficult ones, and finding comfort in simple things. Sometimes nobody needs to offer advice or have all the answers. Just being there for each other, with a cup of tea and a slice of cake, is enough.

   Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube

2. 2. I Never Miss A Thing 4:18

   This is the same song I originally created as a soul recording for AiLF. That version did rather well, and I wanted to see how it would feel in a different musical style.

   I made quite a few versions and loved them all, but this is the one I eventually chose for Tea & Cake.

   You can hear the original soul version in the Soul & Vintage room.

   Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube

3. 3. Stood At The Church Door 3:29

   I wrote this at my niece's wedding. Her mum walked her down the aisle, while her son and the man she was about to marry stood waiting for her.

   It was one of those beautiful moments that stays with you, and I wanted to capture it in a song.

   Read the wedding song story →

   Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube

4. 4. The Dry Riverbed 3:08

   A song about the quiet emptiness left when someone is no longer there. Their jacket still hangs by the door, the garden still grows, and every familiar corner holds a memory.

   Life carries on, even when you're still learning how to live with what's missing.

   Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube

5. 5. The Girl I Used To Be 3:39

   A song about looking back at the person you once were. The things you believed, the fears you carried and the experiences that shaped you.

   As we get older, we sometimes barely recognise that younger version of ourselves. But she's still part of who we've become.

   Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube

6. 6. A Little Like Me 3:26

   I've always loved old, weathered buildings, the peeling paint, crooked gates and little imperfections that give them character.

   This song is about recognising something of ourselves in those things. We might be a little worn and weathered as we get older, but there's still plenty of life and beauty in us.

   Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube

7. 7. Good Enough For Me 3:33

   As we get older, sometimes the simplest things mean the most. The old worn jeans we can't bear to throw away, a favourite cup with a crack in it, or something battered and dented that holds a lifetime of happy memories.

   It's about appreciating what we already have and realising that things don't need to be perfect to be good enough for us.

   Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube

8. 8. A Little Like Me (Ethereal Version) 3:27

   A softer, dreamier interpretation of A Little Like Me.

   I loved the message of the original song and wanted to hear it in a different musical setting. The same words and feelings, but with a more delicate, floating atmosphere that gives the song a different kind of tenderness.

   Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube

Credits

Original songs and creative direction by Susan Heslington. Music produced with AI-assisted tools as part of the AiLF creative process.

Artist: Tea & Cake · Label: AiLF Records · ℗ 2026 AiLF Records · Released 5 September 2026