Grete shares her beautifully raw EP, ‘Grey’

Lithuania-born, Manchester-based artist GRETE has perfected her own brand of alt-pop – culminating in the fresh, unique and exciting 5 track EP that is ‘Grey’.

While the EP successfully executes a huge variety of musical styles and each song is entirely distinct and standalone, there are several themes that span across the tracklist, tying ‘Grey’ together and turning it into a cohesive, emotionally vulnerable story. Each song focuses on a different low point in Grete’s
past, conveyed through cuttingly honest lyrics and reinforced by moody, mesmerising and sometimes even manic instrumentation.

Grete’s debut single, ‘With u’ is a hybrid of many different popular styles including RnB, jazz and pop, akin to influences such as Yebba and Maro. The live instrumentation invokes a warm, emotional sensation and the dynamic vocals encapsulate the intended emotion perfectly. ‘With u’ is a heartfelt ballad in which Grete is comparing her current life to a previous time.

Second single, ‘How Long’ progresses into a darker, more twisted space. This is brought to life by dissonant chords, biting and distorted guitar leads and Grete’s soaring vocals. The track is punctuated with glitchy details and electronic sparkles, complimenting the instruments and contributing to the cosmic scale of the song.

Grete’s latest single, Cz u don’t’ is a forward thinking, experimental yet vulnerable track influenced by artists like Halsey and Hiatus Kaiyote. The song winds through various sections with a beat in 7 as the backdrop, culminating in a whole-band-polyrhythm to end. The protagonist of ‘Cz u don’t’ is searching for reasons to leave an unhealthy relationship.

Grete started singing when she was only three years old, beginning her performance career in small ensembles and bands. She was quickly spotted and invited to the biggest stages in the country, such as nationally broadcasted competitions, top level musical theatre productions, international concerts and contests, even reaching the finals of ‘The Voice’ Lithuania 2018. Gaining local fame opened many doors for function gigs and session work but that was not the career she truly wanted to pursue.

Grete chose to leave Lithuania and start fresh in the UK. Now she is studying pop music vocals in RNCM. Influenced by artists like Jazmine Sullivan, The Weeknd and Yebba, she began writing vocally colourful and harmonically intricate songs with strong messages and old R&B references.

Why not have a listen to Grete’s stunning EP below…

Must Listens: How Long, With u, colder Summer

OUT TODAY: Katrin-Merili puts her blend of Nordic Nu-Soul on the map with ‘Hold My Body’.

Paris-based, Estonian soul artist KATRIN-MERILI announces her debut EP ‘Beautiful Things’ with her new single ‘Hold My Body’, which is out today (20th June). She captures the soulful energy of Yebba, Sade and Cleo Sol, weaving her vocal around a future-facing instrumental to create a distinctive brand of Nordic neo-soul.

‘Hold My Body’ reflects on a long distance relationship, and the power of love to surpass geographical boundaries. Katrin explores the sacrifices that are made when in love, and the hunger for connection and patience needed to see things through. Alt-RnB lyrical flows are balanced with bopping grooves, euphoric synths and a gospel-inflected harmonic flavour, capturing the butterflies in the stomach and thrill of falling in love. Katrin shares: “I started composing this song on a friend’s guitar that was left in my apartment. The chords stuck with me, and gave it so much warmth when I produced the first draft. It took on a life of its own when I played it with my live band, and became the song you can hear today.”

Slated for release in 30th August, ‘Beautiful Things’ is a project consisting of five intimate stories centred around femininity, identity, and mental health, touching upon Katrin’s experience of being split between two countries, and supporting her mother through her battle with breast cancer. Due to the deeply personal subject material, Katrin wanted to be as involved as possible across the project, creating her own visual world to accompany the music, she shares: “I decided to self-produce the EP independently to be able to follow through with my original vision and to make something really personal. I am fully present in all the aspects of the creation, from writing the lyrics to styling, MUA, self-portraits, artworks and collages. Every song is a personal piece of my life and an invite to join me on my journey of self-discovery.”

A rising name in the Parisian soul-jazz crossover scene, Katrin has spent the last eight years in the French capital collaborating and building a name for herself, supporting the likes of Roy Ayres at the revered New Morning jazz club. Her path in Paris led to her meeting co-producer Sacha Arnaud, who was able to help Katrin bring her musical vision to life alongside the vibrant presence of talented French musicians including Noé Berne (Nine Sparks Riot) and Remi Klein (Voyou).

Taken from the ‘Beautiful Things’ EP, set for release on Friday 30th August, ‘Hold My Body’ was
released today (20th June) across various music platforms. Why not have a listen below…

Song of the Day: Don’t Tease Me – Miss La Familia

MISS LA FAMILIA presents Lala her soft alter ego, re-emerging into the industry redefining her sound and rediscovering herself and her music.

Kicking off with her first single ‘Don’t Tease Me’ produced by Ebenezer, Lala brings the international vibes sonically blending Afrobeats and R&B, also bringing American artist QPSkii to feature for a strong female led track.

A sultry, sexy, summer banger that showcases Lala’s effortlessly smooth and silky vocals. QPSkii lends a harder edge to the track with her verse flipping the script.

‘Don’t Tease Me’ gives an insight into Lala’s new look and what’s to come from this unique artist.

Lala is poised to take the music industry by storm this year with several huge collaborations with music titans such as DJ Snake, Skrillex, Flo Dan, Bollywood luminary Tanishk Bagchi, and French sensation Vegeedream. Have a listen to ‘Don’t Tease Me’ plus video below…

Experience the magnetic charm of ‘Familiar,’ T-Missin’s latest Afro-pop single

Get ready to be swept off your feet by the latest release, from T-MISSIN – a masterful blend of melodic, swanky, and seasoned Afro-pop, produced by CERTIBEATS and engineered by Nostra. ‘Familiar’ is an intoxicating experience as T-Missin takes on the role of a sweet talker whose tantalising words are hard to resist.

“This song means a lot to me because it brings me back to a different time. The line ‘if you really love me you won’t care about the lies’ is something I really said to a girl,” T-Missin explains. His love interest, equally alluring with her luscious physique, shares a chemistry with him that’s magnetic. “I was addicted to getting into trouble, and when I wrote this song, I was in big, big trouble. I made amends by buttering her up with smooth words, and the experience inspired me to write it down.”

With ‘Familiar,’ T-Missin aims to create an experience that leaves listeners feeling free, mesmerised, and happy. He envisions his audience embracing the track’s cheekiness and living in the moment. This song is a celebration of spontaneity and charm, inviting everyone to lose themselves in the moment.

In 2018, T-Missin released his first song, ‘2 Girls On My Line,’ produced by Lekka Beats, on Spotify. The track blew up, currently sitting at over 100K streams, and boosted his confidence. That same year, T-Missin appeared on C-Montana’s mixtape ‘Rich & Paranoid,’ lending his vocals to ‘Millionaire.’

In the following years, T-Missin released standout singles such as ‘Ami,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ and ‘Drip Don’t Lie,’ which have collectively accumulated 65K streams to date.

Check out the official music video directed by Sky KJ and THE WÆV below…

Manchester R&B princess Nellie Charles unveils ‘Rain on Me’ video

Following her recent feature on the blog with single ‘Rain On Me’, NELLIE CHARLES has now shared the video to the lush slow jam, which brings the emotional complexity and empowerment themes of the song further to life. Driven by Nellie’s emotive vocals and songwriting, the track is a powerful declaration of independence from a toxic relationship.

Nellie was recently announced for the Shangri-La stage at Glastonbury, and ‘Rain On Me’ has already amassed 100K streams on Spotify alone, as it continues to gain traction with strong support from BBC Radio 1, KISS FM, Notion, and Earmilk, among others.

Check out the video for ‘Rain On Me’ below…