In The Shadow of Forests: Help Me Finish My Album

Aim

Help me finish and release my debut album In The Shadow of Forests and create its cinematic music video Night Howler.

Hi I’m Victoria Wijeratne! I'm a multi-instrumentalist, music producer and composer living in Surrey. I've worked as a composer in Film & TV for a decade, with credit highlights including work for Tate Britain, Netflix distributed and BAFTA Cymru nominated projects.

I make music that has heart and story at its core, blending genres and approaching composing experimentally.

Since 2023, I’ve started releasing music as a solo artist with my debut EP "Graces & Muses", which received radio play from BBC Introducing and KEXP, and featured on Bandcamp's New & Notable. The EP felt like the beginning of establishing my own voice outside of my work as a film composer.

I’m now working on my multi genre, collaborative debut album In The Shadow of Forests, which feels like the next step in that journey. It brings together everything I’ve been developing over the years into one body of work that feels fully my own. 

It’s a project I’m proud of and have been slowly working towards for a long time, and I’m really excited to finally share it with you.

The Album - In The Shadow of Forests

In The Shadow of Forests is my debut 12 track album, composed and produced by me. It’s a mixture of songwriting, ambient textures, and field recordings from different locations across the UK & Europe. I’ve combined these with uniquely textured electronic layers, live instruments and voice, creating a record that’s reflective, atmospheric, cinematic and my most personal work to date.

Much of the album was written within natural spaces, with forests and greenery becoming my own auditorium of processing feelings and thoughts. Over time, the album has come to feel like a symbiotic cycle between nature, life experiences, memory and our relationships with one another, and ultimately the sense that we all really need each other.

This album has also become a truly collaborative project. I’ve had the joy of working with a wonderful group of artists, including GECKO, okcandice, and Joy Mumford, alongside many others who have contributed their creativity and musicianship to the record.

The album is almost complete, but to bring it over the finish line it still needs professional mixing and mastering to give the record the best final sound possible. The next steps are mixing with engineer Bex Ashford, followed by mastering with Izzy McPhee, then a dedicated release campaign with a music video, tailored PR and an exciting in person album listening event at St Barnabas church in Dalston, East London to celebrate the album’s planned release in April 2027.

If we go beyond our funding target, every additional contribution will go straight back into In The Shadow of Forests, allowing me to invest further in the album and expand its world, both musically and visually. This could include physical releases, alongside other areas where additional resources could make a real difference to the project overall.

THE MUSIC VIDEO - Night Howler

Logline: One moment, the Woman is in her lonely flat, watching the night howl outside the window. The next, she is under a streetlight deep in a wild forest, a dog in her path – only to find it’s not a dog at all, but the Friend she was seeking. As it leads her further astray into a kaleidoscope of memory, she must choose if she will be consumed by the dreams or emerge out of the woods, changed.

Why this music video?:

Alongside the album, I’m also producing a cinematic music video for the album's lead single Night Howler, which will be shot on 16mm film, with RTS award winning writer/director Daisy Leigh-Phippard (who I worked with as composer on their recent film SHRIKE).

Rather than making a conventional music video, I want Night Howler to feel cinematic and filmic, as a short film in its own right, while remaining deeply tied to the music and the wider world of In The Shadow of Forests. 

Film and the filmmaking process have been such a huge part of my creative life, so creating a strong visual language for the album feels necessary in bringing its themes to life.

Shooting on 16mm is an important part of this. Its tactile grain, depth and imperfections embody the emotional texture far more truthfully than digital. The medium itself becomes a vessel for the themes of the lead single and album: the yearning to return to places in our lives that felt better, and the act of willingly immersing ourselves in remembrance.

THE TEAM 

KEY COLLABORATORS

(left to right: Joy Mumford, okcandice, GECKO)

Joy Mumford (featured artist/vocalist on the album's lead single 'Night Howler'): Joy Mumford is a singer-songwriter and producer crafting a unique sound she calls sentimental charm pop - a blend of heartfelt storytelling, playful melodies, and indie grooves that delve into themes of connection, growth, and self-discovery. Her self-produced releases, including her EP 'Friends & Family,' showcase her ability to turn personal experiences into emotionally resonant songs. She has performed at festivals including Splendour, Dot To Dot and Barn on the Farm.

okcandice (co-writer & featured artist on album track 'Reclaim The Rain'): okcandice (a.k.a sonic seamstress) is an artist-curator, writer, archivist and musician. They are the director of sonic practice studio Bedtime Stories, co-founder of queer dance party SHUBZ and a radio resident for Berlin’s Refuge Worldwide. Their practice is concerned with grief methodologies, audio-visual archives, Black oral history collections and experimental sonics in civic space. They have held curator roles at Sheffield DocFest, Birmingham Museum & Gallery and fellowships with the Jerwood Foundation and Obsidian Foundation. 

GECKO (co-writer on album track 'Walking Backwards'): Gecko is a singer-storyteller based in South London. His songs cover the big things in life with wit and warmth. From dogs in space to ignored characters in renaissance paintings, from pig fugitives to guanabana fruit juice. Gecko has performed across the world including at Glastonbury, Latitude, BBC Radio 1, 6 Music, the Edinburgh Fringe & the BAFTA winning Sky Arts show ‘Life & Rhymes’.

(left to right: Bex Ashford & Izzy McPhee)

Bex Ashford (mixing engineer - final mixing all 12 tracks): Bex Ashford is a Bristol-based producer and mixing engineer with 40+ released mixes and formal training from Point Blank Music School London. Her productions have received support from BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing and DJ Mag, and she recently attended a production masterclass at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, with sessions focused on mixing from experienced industry professionals. With a background spanning classical and electronic music, Bex brings a detailed, musical approach to creating dynamic and release-ready mixes.

Izzy McPhee (mastering engineer - mastering all 12 tracks for release): Izzy McPhee can be found cutting her teeth in the thriving music scene in Bristol and beyond. The last 4 years has seen her accrue over 700 mastering credits, with work spanning a wide range of genres and artists - including Walt Disco, Dream Wife and Marla Kether. Izzy’s professional development has been supported by Saffron Music in Bristol and she received the Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England in 2023. In 2024, she was recognised by her musical peers and shortlisted in the ‘Rising Star’ category in the Music Producer’s Guild awards. Fostering trust and open communication with her clients is at the forefront of what Izzy does, as well as prioritising the artist’s vision and musical integrity.

(left to right: Daisy Leigh-Phippard & Zik Udenze)

Daisy Leigh-Phippard (writer/director of music video 'Night Howler'): Daisy Leigh-Phippard is a screenwriter and director from the South East, heavily inspired by fairy tales and mythology. Her short films Sealskin and Shrike have been screened across Europe, and have collected various wins and nominations, including a Royal Television Society Award. She has worked for the likes of BAFTA, Marvel Studios, Warner Bros, Working Title and Film London, and currently works across crew training opportunities and delivering trainee and work experience programmes on set for 60Forty Films.

Zik Udenze (cinematographer of music video 'Night Howler'): Zik is a UK-based, cinematographer working internationally across short form formats. His recent narrative work has received national & international festival recognition, with "The Golden Boy' receiving various selections in 2024 across BIFA, BAFTA & Oscar qualifying festivals like HollyShorts & Sunderland Short Film Festival, whilst 'Bakari', produced by Ridley Scott's RSA & Black Dog Films received also in 2024 it's UK premiere at the BIFA qualifying LSSF as well as selection at BIFA & BAFTA qualifying Manchester Film Festival.

HOW WILL YOUR CONTRIBUTION HELP? 

I’m an independent artist without a big label or significant financial backing behind me. I’ve invested my own time, creative energy and resources into bringing In The Shadow of Forests to the point where the album is almost complete, but bringing it over the finish line, and creating Night Howler to the standard I’m aiming for, involves costs that I can’t cover alone.

Your support through this Crowdfunder will help make this final stage possible, allowing me to fulfil the wider creative vision for the project and bring In The Shadow of Forests into the world.

Your support will go towards:

Music video production £5,293 · Mixing & mastering £2,100 · In person album listening event (London) £800 · PR £250 · Album artwork £75

The remaining amount of the £8,900 target accounts for Crowdfunder.co.uk transaction fees, which are deducted from the funds raised.

Mixing & mastering:

This part of the budget covers the final mixing of all 12 tracks by Bex Ashford to get them ready for mastering, followed by Izzy McPhee mastering the full album. Izzy will create both the final digital masters and Apple Digital Masters, helping the album’s sound be presented at the highest possible quality across all digital platforms.

Music video production:

Night Howler will be shot over two days on 16mm film at Alice Holt Forest in Farnham, Surrey, which we have tentatively secured with Forestry England as our main location. We’re planning to shoot at the start of December 2026, providing we reach our funding target. A key part of the video budget is making sure our cast and crew are paid for their work, with paid roles budgeted at National Minimum Wage. Several members of the team are also generously contributing their time and resources in kind, helping us keep this part of the budget as lean as possible.

The £5,293 music video budget will cover:

• Paying cast and crew
• 16mm film stock, processing and scanning
• Camera and lighting equipment
• Location permit costs
• Transport
• Catering: to feed our cast and crew on shoot
• Production design, costume, hair and makeup
• Production insurance and contingency

THANK YOU

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about this project. Whether you choose to support the campaign, share it with someone, or simply follow the journey, it genuinely means a lot to me.

I’m so excited to bring In The Shadow of Forests in to the world, and I’d love to have you be part of it.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 27th October 2026 at 11:22am