Ten minute tea with Afternoon Tea. Spend ten minutes with Afternoon Tea. In the time it takes to boil one kettle, and let one cup of tea steep, we will have your daily art + music fix covered. Take your afternoon break with our Afternoon Tea curators. Need an extra lump of sugar? One more sip? If you have five minutes more (or ten), we have one more hit.
Today’s tea + soundtrack + visuals curated by Jessica Pearson and the East Wind.
Jessica Pearson and the East Wind unveil Wilding Part One, a bold and unflinching EP that channels the power, resilience, and collective strength of women into a deeply intentional body of work. Rooted in folk and Americana traditions while shaped by rich harmonies and emotive storytelling, the record stands as both a celebration of sisterhood and a rallying cry against systemic inequality and gender-based violence.
Written, recorded, and produced entirely by a team of women, Wilding Part One captures the energy of collaboration without compromise. It’s a project born from community and a reflection of the real-life sisterhood that inspired its creation.
“I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing women in my life,” Jessica shares. “These women made space for me to fully be myself. I shared my experiences with them and it was received with no judgment, no shame, just love. Our stories became songs, which in turn became Wilding Part One.”
At the heart of the EP is “Do It,” a gripping and unflinching Americana-leaning folk track that confronts domestic and gender-based violence with both honesty and urgency. Driven by a simmering intensity and grounded in lived experience, the song shifts the narrative from victimhood to empowerment, offering a message of strength and self-worth.
Stream + share Wilding Part One feat. “Do It” now:
“A lot of the time when gender-based violence is discussed, people will ask ‘why didn’t they just leave?’,” Jessica explains. “It’s never that easy. Our song is a reminder that you are worthy and enough, and you are stronger than you’ve been made to believe. You can ‘Do It.’”
The recording process, led by JUNO Award–winning producer Hill Kourkoutis and an all-female team, further amplified the song’s emotional weight. Designed to feel like “a fire raging behind her,” the track carries a raw, undeniable power, reflecting both the pain and the resilience at its core.
Across Wilding Part One, themes of healing, resistance, and transformation intertwine. The EP moves fluidly between celebration and confrontation, capturing both the beauty of women supporting one another and the realities they continue to face. It’s a project that doesn’t shy away from difficult truths, but instead reframes them through strength, unity, and collective voice.
MUSIC: Claire Morrison – You Are Light
I first heard this song almost 5 years ago when I saw Claire Morrison performing at a Folk Music Ontario Showcase, and from that moment one, this song has lived rent free in my head and heart. The beauty of a song is that it can change and transform throughout the years and this one, although lyrically has stayed the same, musically it has evolved. This recorded version of “You Are Light” is so different from how I first heard it, and still hits home so deeply. It’s brought a deeper and heavier feeling to this song, which I think fits it so well and brings a focus on the lyrics. Her whole album is just beautifully crafted and a great listen while sipping on tea.
VISUAL: Kayla Gowans – Autumn
The album I’ve been working on with my trio is completely written, recorded and produced by a team of women musicians, songwriters, producers and more. I wanted not only the themes of this album to talk about sisterhood and the lived female experience, but I wanted to support women by making it with and hiring a team of women. And the artwork I used for each single was no different. I reached out to different female+ visual artists from across the world to license their art pieces as single artwork for each song off this album. The piece I’ve provided here is an oil painting by Kayla Gowans, from Canada, titled “Autumn” which I used as the single artwork for my song “Do It”. The moment I first saw this piece I couldn’t look away. The colours for this piece are dark and make the vibrant red leaves stand out and give the impression of a fire burning.
TEA:
I love tea and have a massive collection of herbal teas, teacups and teapots displayed in my grandmother’s hutch. My usual go-to tea is a ginger lemon tea with a big gulp of honey mixed in. But today, as I’ve been thinking of what song and visual I wanted to share with you, I’ve been sipping on honeybush Botswana tea from the Banff Tea Co. It’s sweet and makes me think of spring.
Tea + Me 