Introducing Interview: Jewelia

With over 20,000 listens on Spotify and with acclaim from the likes of BBC Introducing and BBC Radio Kent, London based artist Jewelia has been charming our ears with her soulful alt-pop sounds. Oozing a sparkling raw emotion alongside her rich, honey-sweet vocals, latest single ‘Second Best‘ offers a heartfelt anthem delivered with a subtle, stirring power.

To celebrate the single’s release, we caught up with Jewelia to find out more…

Hi Jewelia! Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a singer-songwriter based in London, originally from Bucharest, Romania. I moved to the UK a few years ago to study Music Production, so that I would be able to execute the vision for my songs without a middle-man. I play piano and I’m learning guitar. I love books and also writing my own stories and poems when I have time, online shopping (especially when it’s for music video props), and cats, but sadly I don’t have one… !

Are you able to tell us a bit about how and why you initially started creating music?
I’ve been singing and writing songs since I was little – in fact, I believe I wrote my first song when I was seven. When I was thirteen I became interested in production and started teaching myself to record and produce my own songs. Music was always something I was very interested in, so there was simply no other way!

We love your Maisie Peters-inspired alt-pop sounds, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
As a teenager, I was obsessed with Muse. Their early material was so powerful and intensely emotional, and I loved how their topics were things that don’t often appear in songs, such as outer space or the state of the world. It was what made me want to have a band, and have my own voice, so a very strong early influence for me. A couple of others would be Amanda Palmer (in the period of my first EP and album), Sufjan Stevens and Lana del Rey. These days I listen to a lot of alt-pop, the likes of Phoebe Bridgers or Holly Humberstone.

You’ve just released your new single ‘Second Best’. Are you able to tell us a bit about it?
‘Second Best’ is about feeling inadequate in a society that celebrates the one-in-a-million American Dream stories of going from rags to riches, while collectively pitying the the masses living average lives. From a young age, we watch stories of success against all odds and are besotted with the chosen one, while getting accustomed to look down on the average people and their struggles – the irony being, of course, that we are them. We are told that we can achieve anything, if only we try hard enough. As inspiring as this sounds, it also implies that we only have ourselves to blame (regardless of systemic disadvantages, biological limits, financial difficulty etc) for having an average life, in a world where mediocrity is viewed as being worse than utter failure. Something is messed up here, and I thought it was worth exploring.

Being based in London, do you get to see lots of live music? Would you say it’s recovered since the pandemic?
There is always something cool happening in London, but I don’t go out as much as I should, really! I used to go to a lot of gigs before the pandemic; not so much now, but planning to change that! I’m Not sure if things are the same, as some venues have really suffered and even had to close, but I see that lots of things are going on, and lots of friends and people I know are back to putting on gigs.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
No shows planned for this year, but hoping to put together a UK tour in 2023, to promote the new album coming out next year. More details TBC!

How do you feel the industry is for new artists at the moment? And do you feel much has changed over the last few years in its treatment of female and queer/LGBTQ+  artists?
I am seeing a lot of positive change, a lot more visibility and lot more acceptance. But there’s still a long way to go! I’d love to see more women producers (we are still a tiny fraction of the total, less than 3%)! And less ageism, again especially directed at women. Life doesn’t end at 30, so why should music careers end then? Thankfully this also seems to be improving, slowly.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any other upcoming artists or bands you’re loving right now that you’d recommend we check out?
Just looking at my feed at some musicians I know that have released music recently, check out Austel – ‘Cut Me Down’, GRAY – ‘A Million Roses’, Rookes – ‘Paint’, Feral Five – ‘Silver Sky’. I also love Luna Keller’s ‘Wolves’ and Luke Fraser with ‘Moth Eaten Romeo’.

Finally, what does the rest of the year have in store for you?
I have at least one more single dropping before the end of the year, a new album pre-order announcement to come, and also the obligatory Christmas video! And I’ll also be found playing songs and taking requests on Twitch (almost) every Sunday!

Massive thanks to Jewelia for answering our questions!

mariangelicalaneLeave a comment

Track Of The Day: Yanna A – ‘Vigilant’ / ‘Lift Me Up’

The opening 30 seconds of ‘Vigilant‘ has me waiting for the explosion of a techno-flavoured dancefloor banger. But prepare to be surprised as Yanna A throws listeners off guard and veers into a haunting vocal breakdown ahead of expansive instrumentation flowing to the forefront. Before we even have a chance to appraise what we’re listening to, the outro kicks in, hastily covering its tracks and driving off in a completely different direction.

Inspired by Grimes, FKA Twigs, Eartheater and Little Simz, ‘Vigilant’ has a contemporary electro feel and clocks in at under two and a half minutes. Perfect music for those whose attention is easily diverted and want something fresh constantly assaulting their senses, as it really does feel like three songs rolled into one. 

Speaking of the double A-side single, Yanna says, “The concept of ‘Vigilant’ was initially about general anxiety, as well as the comedown of it on ‘Lift Me Up’. But looking back now, I think this was a real expression of how I was feeling during the COVID pandemic, as all my flatmates had gone back home and I was basically stuck in a house alone for five months… People actually ran away from me in supermarket aisles and on park pathways! It got bad and I was on beta blockers for panic attacks. London was truly a ghost town.”

Flipside, ‘Lift Me Up‘, is classic Yanna A, with a nod to Smashing Pumpkins and Kristin Hersh. Vulnerable lyrics sing tenderly of recovering from sorrow and the journey of coming out the other side, having reached acceptance and grown from the experience. All of this is set to a beautiful acoustic guitar backdrop which builds with elevating vocal harmonies into searing reverb and gunshot beats.

A gloriously uplifting song indeed and the perfect tonic for life’s woes. Yanna says, “The song really just breathed from me without much thought! I think, after so much of that anxiety, I was really looking for solace and peace in my spirituality. I believe in nature as my higher power and I tend to follow the natural cycles, so this song was a response to that. After all the chaos and fear comes calm and clarity, always. We, as living beings, are in cycles and learning to trust those cycles and processes are important to me“.

You can download Yanna A’s music from Bandcamp and find out about her upcoming releases on Facebook and Instagram. ‘Vigilant’ and ‘Lift Me Up’ were mixed by Joe Futak. 

Mandy Bang

mandybangLeave a comment

Five Favourites: Maria Uzor

Having recently wowed us with her immersive live show at The Shacklewell Arms, and having received acclaim from the likes of John Kennedy and Amy Lame, we’re excited to hear that Norwich based vocalist and producer Maria Uzor (also half of faves Sink Ya Teeth) has now announced the release of her upcoming new EP in December. Ahead of the EP release, she has now shared captivating new single ‘Solitaire’. Flowing with a luscious, swirling groove and gnarly beats, it builds with a shimmering, pulsating majesty to a gritty slice of euphoric electro-pop. Oozing her distinctive, spellbinding sweeping vocals, it’s a gloriously uplifting synth-soaked soundscape.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the upcoming release of Songs For Luminous Living, we caught up with Maria to ask about the music that has inspired her the most. See below for their choices of their five favourite albums, and be sure to watch the trippy new video for ‘Solitaire’ at the end of this feature.

Tricky – Pre Millenium Tension
I’ve always really admired Tricky as an artist. I’m really drawn to the landscapes he paints with sounds and vocals, and how he doesn’t confine himself to genres. You can hear influences from all over the place. There’s an other-worldly quality to his music too, which I think comes from not putting restrictions on himself. He’s an explorer; I love that. This album also features the superb vocals of Martine Topley Bird. The interplay between their two voices is something magic.


Minnie Ripperton – Come To My Garden
This was Minnie Ripperton’s debut solo album after leaving Rotary Connection, and what an album! That voice is just from another realm – it makes me cry! And such beautiful production too. It’s the kind of album I can play on a summer’s day or late at night and it will just put me in a mood of beauty and possibility. This album has an other-worldly feel to it too; it’s haunting in its beauty.


Sylvester – Stars
I absolutely adore Sylvester. He had such a beautiful voice and presence, and he chose to spend his time on this planet being unapologetically himself, and I really love that. Stars is only a four track EP but every song is special. The title track makes me want to dance whenever I hear it, it’s just life affirming. The EP also features a collaboration with Patrick Cowley on ‘I Need Somebody To Love Tonight’ (Cowley produced it). It definitely grooves hard, but there’s a pensive element there too which gives it a different edge.

David Bowie – Low
Whenever I speak to people who were around when Ziggy Stardust first landed, they always say the same thing; that it was like he came from another planet. So naturally, I love him – haha! When I was a teenager I used to just play all the usual early ’70s classics like ‘Life On Mars’ and ‘Starman’, but then I started loving all eras of Bowie as I got older. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed out on. I’m really into how wise he became in his older years too. There’s some stellar nuggets of wisdom from him in YouTube videos! It was hard to pick just one Bowie album but I settled on Low for the beautiful songwriting and production. I admire Bowie for the same reason that I admire Tricky; they’re both explorers, boldly dancing beyond boundaries in every sense. ‘Sound And Vision’ just reminds me of countless good times I’ve had with friends, late at night in small kitchens!


Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On?
To me, no other piece of music comes closer to perfection than this album. I first discovered it at art school and used to play it every day for about two years. The production, the sentiment, the vocals; it’s like it’s a precise moment of expression beamed out to the universe. Or beamed in from the universe. Or both! Flawless and breathtaking in its beauty.


Massive thanks to Maria Uzor for sharing her Five Favourites with us! Watch the captivatingly trippy new video for her single ‘Solitaire‘ now:


Songs For Luminous Living, the upcoming EP from Maria Uzor, is set for release on 9th December via Hey Buffalo Records.

Photo Credit: Andi Sapey

mariangelicalaneLeave a comment

Five Favourites: SRSQ

‘Saved for Summer’ is the latest single from American ethereal-pop artist Kennedy Ashlyn – aka SRSQ (pronounced seer-skew), taken from her latest album Ever Crashing. Although Summer may be over, this is the powerful pop anthem we need to get us through the upcoming gloomy winter. Opening with a fun ’80s synth-pop beat followed by a thick lush synth pad and a fuzzy catchy guitar riff, it’s clear from the start that this track is going to have an impact. Full of atmospheric layers and ethereal sounds, a frenzied cacophony builds, but in a way that immerses you completely. Ashlyn’s voice is theatrical and powerful and her eclectic genre-bending style brings to mind artists like Kate Bush and St Vincent. The recurring vocal “oohs” lodge themselves in the ears and stay there all day long. Of the lyrics, Ashlyn explains: “‘Saved for Summer’ echoes the yearning to escape a depressive miasma, the desperate desire to stop watching life through a window”.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the recent release of Ever Crashing, we caught up with SRSQ to ask about the music that has inspired her the most. See below for their choices of their five favourite albums, and be sure to watch the trippy new video for the ‘Saved For Summer’ at the end of this feature.

The Horrors – Primary Colours
This album has consistently been in my top three favourite albums since it came out over a decade ago, which I think might make it my favourite record. I was 15 when it came out, and what really drew me to it was the sound design and guitar tones, which I still think are very unique, but at the time I hadn’t heard anything even close to similar. I remember hearing in an interview that the guitarist actually made a lot of his own pedals, which I had never even heard of at the time. The sound is simultaneously ambient and harsh, and you can definitely hear that influence in my music. I also think the album starts in such an intriguing way and has such a captivating arc, it’s really an enchanting listen. 

Slowdive – Souvlaki
My TAUT bandmate Cash introduced me to this album when I was 19, and it was love at first listen. This album is one of the best examples of how sound itself can be vastly emotional, outside of the songwriting, beyond the lyrics – how the textures and timbres can pull at your heartstrings and reach you in a deep visceral way. I saw them live the following year at the Fox Theater in Oakland, and in between songs they would sometimes break out into this ambient harsh noise, and these were the most beautiful and impactful parts of the performance. They have an uncanny ability to create a synesthesia of sound and feeling, and I don’t think anyone does it better.

Cocteau Twins – Garlands
Though it’s hard to choose, I’m pretty sure this is my favourite Cocteau Twins record. It’s just so driving, and the guitar tones are so perfect – it’s moody and beautiful, and solid from start to finish. Cocteau Twins were (are) my mom’s favourite band, so I listened to them growing up and kind of wrote them off as a teen, assuming it was “mom music.” When I started writing what would become the songs on Remain, my mom heard them and told me I needed to get back into Cocteau Twins, and burned me a few CDs. I obviously fell back in love immediately, and it was an interesting experience being subconsciously familiar with all of the material while still feeling like I was hearing it for the first time. I think it’s super interesting how everyone points out an “obvious Cocteau Twins influence” in Them Are Us Too, but I didn’t actually get back into them until after writing most of the songs on the first record, so that influence was largely subconscious, at least in the songwriting stage. 

Beach House – Bloom 
I honestly think this is a perfect album, I’m not even really sure what else I can say about it. The songwriting, the tones, the production, the mix- all of it is just phenomenal. Every element just shows true mastery of the craft. Cash considered Beach House one of her greatest inspirations for guitar work. I was lucky enough to see them three times while they were touring for this record, and I still remember those shows vividly. One time was at a festival (I don’t remember which) and they performed in front of a sunset over the water. A breathtaking moment. 

The Knife – Deep Cuts
I think a lot of records could have gone into this fifth and final slot, (Loveless and Disintegration come to mind), but I think this one is a little less obvious of an influence, which is why I wanted to touch on it. The Knife have truly some of the most unique and genre-defying sound palettes – what they create is truly their own in every way. The sounds and the songs are strange, but they just work. I also love that they put ‘Heartbeats’ in a commercial, totally blew up, turned the band into an anti-capitalist collective, put out one more record, and then dissolved the project. And when they toured on Shaking the Habitual, they had a bunch of performers onstage, which obscured who “The Knife” actually were, as like a statement about art and celebrity and consumption of artists, and they didn’t play ‘Heartbeats’ – both of which pissed off the audience who only knew them from their commercial success. It’s like the most punk shit I’ve ever heard of. 

Huge thanks to SRSQ for sharing her Five Favourites with us! Watch the self-directed, wonderfully psychedelic new video for ‘Saved For Summer’ here:

‘Saved For Summer’ is produced by Chris Coady (Beach House, Slowdive). Ever Crashing, the second album from SRSQ, is out now via Dais Records.

Ella Patenall
@ellapatenall

Photo Credit: Nedda Asfari

ellapatenallLeave a comment