Patience Panacea has certainly been an exercise in patience. This selection of songs and compositions was initially penned by founder member, Helen Stanley (the lead singer, pianist, arranger and producer behind The Sounds of Ursa) following the breakdown of her marriage. The complete collection of songs and compositions were originally the focus for a new solo project launched under the radar which, with the encouragement of long-standing collaborator and violinist Boris Ming, a few other trusted mentors, and a group of hand-picked talented musicians, resulted in a journey of development and the recording of this debut EP before emerging full force with the 1st full-line-up live shows in 2019. The 6 songs in total chosen for the EP were selected due to their common themes of anguish and healing that ran through them and for their musical coherence when presented in one body of work. Featuring a unique instrumental pallet of piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, electric strings, vibes, harmonium, hammered dulcimer, musical saw, and even a waterphone, arrangements carry but never overwhelm the original singer-songwriting, the EP's title Patience Panacea reflects this journey from pain to recovery.

The opening track Twilight Prayer is an intimate ode to insomnia, written one wide awake, red-eyed night: "These lowly twilights are breaking me. Time to barricade regret and flee from the void" is sung over a Wurlitzer electric piano, vibes, a far away ebowed electric guitar drenched in cavernous reverb, and a field recording of the dawn chorus (captured in the moment in Helen's garden) Suddenly an electric violin solo joins in with the full band lifting the isolation into a brighter space of hope as the dawn arrives. "Abandon midnight carousels. Sun rise high, I bath in your glow."

The 2nd track Drowning is an honest song about confusion, disappointment, and the common unanswered questions we can be left with following the breakdown of a relationship. "When all the torches have been snuffed, when all the promises are sent adrift when a drop becomes a waterfall, that's when we've lost it all." The song has almost a gospel quality to it with a full choir punctuating the structure but is again met with moments Helen's unusual instrumentation choices, a waterphone, musical saw, and vibes create a dreamlike state drifting in and out over the piano.

Familiar Foe brings the tempo down to the quietest moment of the EP. It focuses on themes of crippling depression. "Life's pendulum swings unaware this clock has stopped." and showcases Helen's ability to bring her vulnerability and fragility unapologetically to the mix. The string sections pushing and pulling you before drifting off into unresolved heartbreaking silence.

Patience Panacea, the title track, written as a kind of 'open letter to herself' was to remind Helen that 'this too will pass' in times of anguish during the breakup. Musically however it has the effect an uplifting lullaby might. The Wurlitzer piano, reminiscent of Badalamenti Twin Peaks, unpins a call and response between the vocals "Harbour or set sail oh what to do? It's clear whatever you decide there's truth" the woozy violin and hammered dulcimer breaking down into the central luscious vocal refrain "Patience Panacea".

Tall tree, the penultimate track, tells a story, through metaphor, of a love shared and lost. It's the most ambitious in terms of arrangement with a full string section and vibes accenting the piano and featuring a beautifully captivating cello solo from Drew Morgan at the center.

Forbidden is the last track on the EP and was the last to be recorded rather uniquely, live within the grand setting of Bristol's formidable Georgian manor 'King Weston House'. The lyrics poetically play on a theme drawn from a very personal experience of being out of depth with a dangerous and forbidden love. "Retreat from the fire, too forbidden to foray... the fix never lasts, it dies within the sun, no rising eclipses our insatiable lust".The dreamy but uneasy quality of the song begins with downtempo stark, melancholic piano/sinking strings minimalism giving way to soaring harmonies and eventually increases with intensity towards a climactic disturbing ending.