Tell us about:
Your latest single:
My latest single is Precious Gift. I wrote it after losing my mother, although the chorus had been with me for years while I watched her health gradually decline. After she passed, the song became my way of speaking to her and processing everything I had never been able to say aloud. It is the most vulnerable record I have released.
Your favourite lyric in this song:
“Wherever you are, I hope you know you’re loved.”
Your favourite song that you have created that is an album track:
Perhaps unfortunately, it would have to be Precious Gift. I also loved creating Simple Yet True and I’m Yours. All three capture very private moments from my life, although the latter two carried more hope. Precious Gift came from the most painful place.
Your favourite song to play live:
Caffeine High. It has an energy that immediately changes the atmosphere in the room, and I love feeling the audience come alive with it.
The song that was the longest to write and why:
Precious Gift. The chorus existed years before the complete song, but I wasn’t emotionally ready to finish it. Honestly, I never wanted to have a reason to finish it—but I suppose fate had its own plans.
One of your previous tracks you would recommend for first-time listeners and why:
I’m Yours. Although it came from a painful story too, my friends tell me that, on the surface, it feels quite hopeful. I think it offers a good introduction to the way I turn difficult moments into something warm.
Dream collaboration:
Hans Zimmer.
Describe the feeling you get when you walk on stage to do a show:
Here is the less glamorous answer: you will usually find me warming up in a toilet. It is gross, but hey, that is New York for you. Whenever there is an actual green room, I feel extremely grateful!
The track that is most fun to play live:
Surprisingly, it is becoming Precious Gift. I don’t usually share my feelings out loud, so singing them in a warm room somehow makes the pain feel communal. I can sense that the listeners are right there with me. Not to get too deep, but it almost feels like a conversation between souls. That may sound slightly preachy, but it is honestly what I feel.
Previously, it was I’m Yours for a similar reason, but performing Precious Gift has taken that feeling to an entirely different level.
Essential items you always take on tour with you:
A notebook and Ricola. If I can also get some ginger water and honey, that would be amazing!
Describe your fans in three words:
Warm, empathetic and thoughtful.
A song released in the last few years by an artist or band you wish you had written:
august by Taylor Swift. It is such a beautiful blend of vivid storytelling and irresistibly hooky songwriting.
What can we look forward to from you this year?
I’m very glad I took the step of releasing Precious Gift. Somehow, it has given me the feeling of finally exhaling, whatever that means. I’m continuing to play shows around New York, with my next performance on September 30, and I have more music planned, with hopefully at least one new song arriving before the end of the year. I’m also in talks to perform in India, which I’m really looking forward to.
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