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Polly Paulusma reissues Scissors In My Pocket for its 21st year

The cover art is by her mother, portrait painter Louise Riley-Smith, who died this June.

Polly Paulusma

Polly Paulusma sings into a microphone while playing an acoustic guitar, eyes closed, wearing an embroidered dark blouse.
Paulusma performing in January 2026. Photo: p_a_h, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Polly Paulusma has confirmed a deluxe reissue of her 2004 debut Scissors In My Pocket, due 2 October via One Little Independent Records and Wild Sound, The Line of Best Fit reported on August 14. The 21st anniversary edition pairs the original 11 tracks with five bonus recordings from the same period, including the previously unheard My Errant Knight, out now.

Paulusma recorded and produced much of the original album alone in a garden shed behind her South London home in 2003. The reissue's artwork, including a charcoal portrait of Paulusma on the cover, was made by her mother, the portrait painter Louise Riley-Smith, who died this June.

The bonus songs carry their own histories: Orion's Belt was written as the Iraq War began, Two Stars followed the miscarriage of Paulusma's first pregnancy, and My Errant Knight turns anxiety over her father's heart attack into medieval imagery. Paulusma says Pentecostosis has taken on new meaning since her bipolar diagnosis.

Paulusma has said Orion's Belt, which pictures suffering witnessed from a place of comfort, felt like it should be dated by now: "But sadly it feels even more relevant in our modern world," she said, describing the feeling behind the song as Weltschmerz, or "world-pain."

The reissue closes with Leave Your Keys, a longtime live favorite that Paulusma says still draws requests from fans two decades on.

The facts

  • The album being reissued is Scissors In My Pocket, her 2004 debut
  • The deluxe reissue is due on 2 October
  • It includes the previously unheard track My Errant Knight
  • The cover art is by her mother, Louise Riley-Smith, who died in June
  • One Little Independent Records and Wild Sound are releasing it

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