Homecoming, headline tours, and what lies ahead: Siobhán Winifred reflects on her whirlwind year and looks forward to a future filled with new music and deeper connections with her growing fanbase. Read our latest Hype cover feature.

Words: Stephen Ackroyd.

Siobhán Winifred is hunched over a stack of merch, CDs and cassettes, her hand cramping as she signs what probably feels like the squillionth copy of her debut EP. It's a far cry from the glitz and glamour one might expect from an artist on the cusp of breaking through, but for Winifred, it's a moment of pure, unadulterated joy.

"I'm so, so happy with how they've turned out," she beams, her enthusiasm palpable. Unbridled excitement increasingly feels to surround everything Siobhán touches, and her rise to the cusp of minor indie stardom is starting to really gather pace.

Winifred's journey began in the rolling hills of Dorset, a place she's recently returned to after a stint in London like a true frugal icon to save up some much-needed cash for her headline tour. "I appreciate the beach and countryside so much more now than I did as a kid," she muses, a hint of nostalgia creeping in. This sense of homecoming permeates her debut EP, 'Don't Do Well Alone', a collection of songs that feel as intimate as a late-night conversation and as expansive as the Dorset coastline.

But there's more to Siobhán Winifred than just her music. "I have always felt things very deeply; sang [Avril Lavigne's] 'Sk8r Boi' in my primary school talent show; an aries; Gilmore Girls obsessed; I have a big family, and they're my favourite people in the world," she rattles off, painting a picture of a young woman who knows how to relate to her audience.

Her musicality