The London-based songwriter returns with a track inspired by Sylvia Plath’s famous fig tree metaphor, reframing the poem’s anxiety around choice and uncertainty into something softer and more hopeful. Built around warm instrumentation and Mann’s understated vocal delivery, ‘The Fig Tree’ acts as an early introduction to the emotional core of Kismet.
“It’s based off the poem by Sylvia Plath; where she struggles with the overwhelming decision of what to do with her career,” Mann explains. “Something we all have to go through and though it can feel hopeless and constantly changing, I wanted to try and write something that made it all feel lighter.”
The single arrives alongside news of Kismet, the follow-up to 2025 debut Roxwell. Where that record captured instability and emotional upheaval, the new album leans into a more grounded and optimistic perspective, shaped by new relationships, chosen family and a growing belief in fate and redirection.
On the album’s title, Matilda Mann says: “I like to think that there’s a comfort in leaning into what the universe has in store, when you start to think of every rejection as a form of being redirected to somewhere you’re actually meant to be.”
Musically, Kismet draws on influences including Al Green, Bill Withers, Carole King and The Carpenters, while retaining the intimate songwriting that has defined Mann’s work so far.
The album also includes previous singles ‘Inventing’ and ‘Bittersweet’, the latter premiering as BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record. Mann will support the release with a UK tour this October, culminating in a headline show at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
Kismet lands on 4th September.
