Full look Cecilie Bahnsen / Ring LAG World 

You grew up in Milton Keynes, which is near where I grew up. Despite hundreds of thousands of people living there, I always find it weird when I discover things like this.

I know, right! It’s like, “Oh, how do you even survive this small town?”

Did growing up there influence your music in any way?

A hundred percent with school. We had a great practice room vibe where we’d go in every lunch break, throw paint at the wall, and start learning piano. My friends would rap, and I’d be playing piano and singing. So yeah, the culture was there. My school was quite musical, but there wasn’t much funding. You know what I mean? But we made do with what we had. It was just fun.

Before that, had you already developed a love for music? At what point did you want to become an artist? 

It started from a very early age, because my dad’s such a big music fan. He loves jazz and used to play saxophone. So I grew up with massive speakers in the living room. There was always music around, and they encouraged me to just be creative with it.

You live in London now. Was that crucial for you?

A hundred percent. I’ve been here eight years now. Just to kind of immerse myself in the music. Especially back in the 2017 vibes, the jam scene was amazing, people were just experimenting across East London and South London. So I’d just go and consume all the fun stuff.

Has it lived up to your expectations?

At first it was very daunting because I didn’t really have that many friends and you’re just trying to meet new people. But as time went by, and during COVID actually, I met a lot of friends through Instagram and then realised I’d seen them at jams anyway. 

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Your mixtape, Naturally, which drops at the end of June, will mark your fourth project in three years. 

Crazy!

Has it been important for you to keep feeding listeners with projects as opposed to just releasing songs?

Yeah, definitely. I like people to discover me with a body of work, you know what I mean? That’s my favourite way of discovering artists. And I feel like I’m still emerging, still upcoming, and I want them to find this project but then also go back to the first one. Like, “oh, this is different, but it’s still similar.”

The title track has been described as a spring anthem. Tell me about it. How long ago was it written?

I wrote it like a year and a half, two years ago with Bastian [Langebæk]. He’s originally from Denmark, but he was over for like two days and there were no studios available, so we went to Pirate in Dalston. It’s a very dingy studio vibe. It was cold, but we were like, what if we just write a proper springtime love song? We were both talking about our individual relationships. We wrote the song then, it was definitely a DIY moment, and I went back over again to finish it with him last year. He was amazing to write with. We both bonded over classic soul and older reefer tunes.

“Rivers End” has such a sing-a-long vibe to it. What was the inspiration behind it?

It was inspired by me and Jamie writing about how to motivate yourself through a difficult time and imagining yourself walking down the river and you’re like, “Okay, come on, I can get to the river’s end and It’ll be okay.”

Cardigan Toga / Boxers Ray Chu / Skirt Feng Chen Wang / Trainers Lili Curia / Earrings LAG World 

Was there a line or lyric in the song that felt especially important for you to express?

My favourite lyric in the song is the chorus, “To the river’s end, I’m gonna be my best friend.” Sometimes you need to remind yourself when you’re going through a difficult time. 

Paint the scene. What kind of mood or setting do you imagine people listening to this and the rest of the mixtape in? 

I’m imagining this mixtape to be digested on a Sunday morning, when you’re getting ready for your chill day that you’re gonna have because you’re having a rest day. I’m also imagining people listening to this mixtape when they’re on their way to their commute and their work day, and they want a little bit of motivation and something that makes them feel good when they’re away or getting the train. That’s what I like anyway. I prefer music that makes me feel calm before the work day ahead. I just want to make people feel good.

Visiting Ghana played a huge part in shaping the last project, it’s like I never left. Did connecting with your roots make the creative process for this one easier?

Yeah, definitely. Because I know myself. I think the previous project was about the question of, “will I be accepted?”, constantly feeling a bit insecure about my identity. But then after coming back from Ghana, I was like, okay, I’m accepted in London, accepted in Ghana. I can be myself, you know?

This new mixtape explores mistakes, frustration, a noisy brain, being in love, and self-love. Since it’s arriving obviously less than a year after your last EP, is a lot of the music written about events that have taken place since that project, or over a longer period?

A longer period for sure. It’s a mix. It’s a mixtape because it draws on all my surroundings and how I’ve gone to them to make myself feel calm again in certain situations. Life, as we know, isn’t simple and things get thrown at you. I found myself always going back to nature or self-love vibes to get me through. So it’s just a little compilation of songs I wrote over time.

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Did your influences differ?

Ooh, I think they’ve differed a little bit in terms of there are some darker tunes and some references to Solange and André 3000 and stuff like that, which I’ve always listened to. But I felt like I’d dug deeper into a slightly darker world.

Who were your OG influences?

Very early on, definitely like a Stevie Wonder vibe, all the ’70s soul, but then also Amy Winehouse, Kelis, and all of that. So yeah, a bit of a mixture.

Kelis! She was the first artist I stanned before it was even a term we used. She’s such an innovator. 

A hundred percent. Especially in that corner of that alternative soul. Her, Solange, Andre 3000. Oh, I’ve been into Tweet recently too.

Given that you’re always so creative, have you started to think about your debut album and what you’d like it to sound like?

Definitely. I feel like my friend told me this the other day: your debut album takes your lifetime to write. But I feel super ready for it. So I’m currently writing for it and I’m excited to release it. You only get to do it once. I’m kind of itching for it. I’m really excited. I feel like I can go in deeper, kind of like what I’ve done for this project, but I really want to get a bit conceptual with it. 

Full look Cecilie Bahnsen / Ring LAG World 

I’m sure it’s early days, but do you have a vision of when you would ideally like it to come out? 

I think the label has ideas. I think we are on the same page. I don’t know. 

Next summer?

Oh, before then! I’m currently writing, which is promising. And I hope after a festival season I can just kind of look at all I’ve written, and just be like, “Okay.”

How many songs do you have that you believe are good enough to make the album?

Ooh. I mean other people would say different, but I’d say like five. I’m really happy. I love to write with guitar and vocals first. Right now, they’re all quite demo vibes. I like to leave them for a second and go back and finish them.

How have you felt about your career trajectory so far?

I definitely feel like it’s happened faster, because I’ve been releasing music for like four years now. I wasn’t expecting people to gravitate towards “Good Vibrations.” When we wrote it, I was just like, “Oh, this is fun, a happy song.” But it’s so nice to know that people have gravitated towards it and reached out, saying it got them through some times. That’s literally my goal in life, to make people feel good. So yeah, I’m happy with it, and I hope to get a bit more experience in terms of meeting new crowds, doing new festivals that are a bit different. And yeah, I supported Olivia Dean about a month or two ago. Her crowd was so nice and so lovely.

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Has seeing her success recently given you that boost that not everything is overnight?

Oh, a hundred percent. So inspiring, because she’s put in the shift and you’re like, okay, cool, keep grinding, keep doing your thing, keep being you. Because she’s very focused on what she does and very individual to her.

Your music typically paints a cinematic picture. Have you ever thought about delving into soundtracks?

I’d love to get involved with that. Sometimes when I go in the studio, I like to write the end credits song, like what would be rolling over the end credits.

You must have visuals flying through your head when recording songs in the studio?

Yeah, so like “How It’s Gotta Be,” my previous song, me and Martin Brown were just chatting about it, like imagine, this is what a lot of people go through. And I had it during the session: you wake up really early, you have to go to a job you don’t want to do because I was working at the time. It’s 6 am, you’re on the Tube and you’re just like, when will this end?

Back to the new mixtape. What is your favourite song and why?

Ooh, that’s so tough. Can I give you my top two? 

Go for it!

“Roses in the Dark” and “Wine into Water.”

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Why those two?

They’re both very different from what I’ve put out. “Roses in the Dark” is giving that Kelis, Solange sound. And then “Wine into Water” is special for a reason I can’t disclose right now. It’s a really deep message and I find it difficult to play live just yet, but it’s super personal to me and I’m very excited to have it out.

Does it get easier letting go of songs and releasing them into the world?

It does, it does. Also, I know a lot of artists have a thing about holding their songs until the right moment to put them out. But I just love getting it out. It’s kind of a release, it’s therapy. Songwriting is therapy, but putting it out into the world is also therapy. Because it’s like you’ll never be done creating, you’ll never have a stop moment. My favourite thing is just being like, okay, that’s done.

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