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When you think of a twenty year old female singer from the U.K. you might automatically think that her music might be pop and campy based on the ghosts of music’s past. In the case of wunderkind Laurel this could not be further from the truth. Her haunting and sultry music that she creates sheds a unique light on her world that seems to come from a place where an old soul lives. An old soul that also loves fashion, blogs, social media and cheese.
Laurel’s sound comes from a place of self expiration that many young people go through as well as following her instincts and staying true to what feels right to her.
“I was so fed up with trying to write all these pop songs,” Laurel says. “I wanted to write something different. I wanted it to be something that represents me. I told my label that I needed time off and I sat down for 2 months and chilled with my guitar and got back to my roots. I had some recording equipment and a laptop and I just started making beats and playing around.”
It is interesting to think that Laurel writes her music based on what is going on in her young life and translates it into a sound that is beyond her years. “I have to have something that I really feel strongly about to write about it which is kind of annoying sometimes when everything is going really well”, the singer says. “It is kind of like my diary and how I let out my feelings.”
Like many other girls her age she also gets inspiration from magazines as well as blogs and the fashion world. “My style changes daily,” states the “To The Hills” singer. “I am a very sort of girly person but I also love grungy, dark clothes. It seems to change with the weather as well and how I am feeling and what songs I’m writing. If I am writing quite dark then I will wear dark, grungy clothes and boots. When my mood changes and I want to write happier, more uplifting songs, I tend to wear more pastel colors. It’s really strange,” Laurel says with a giggle.
Another thing that juxtaposes her old soul with the modern day twenty year old girl is her love for social media. “I am pretty obsessed with social media,” Laurel says. “I am trying not to be on my phone so much. My boyfriend keeps telling me togetoffmyphonebutIamlike‘Holdon,Iam checking my Instagram!’
The British singer/songwriter/producer recently released her first EP entitled “To The Hills” in April via her own label Next Time Records. It includes the title track, B-sides “Nicotene Dreams,” “Shells” and remixes by the Jane Doze and WoodysProduce.
Laurel seems to have an amazing head on her shoulders; “I’m a 20 year old and I really love cheese and music. They are my two loves in life.”
Photo Rebecca Need-Menear
