Lola Young

Lola Young is an R&B-rooted, stylistically dynamic vocalist and multi-instrumentalist whose combination of smoky vocals and mature songwriting has prompted comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Adele. Although the South East London native's 2019 debut, the Intro EP, made a significant impression, she experienced her true breakout in 2021. Her atmospheric cover of "Together in Electric Dreams" soundtracked John Lewis & Partners' annual Christmas advertising campaign that year, and she was also shortlisted for the 2022 BRITs Rising Star category, a distinction that affirmed her individuality. Her debut album, My Mind Wanders and Sometimes Leaves Completely, arrived in 2023 and was quickly followed by 2024's This Wasn't Meant for You Anyway.

Young started writing songs at the age of 11, and within only a couple years of dedicating herself to developing her talent, she won an open-mike competition. She attended the BRIT School -- coincidentally the same creative arts school previously attended by Amy Winehouse and Adele -- and shortly after graduation and still a teenager, she signed a deal with major-label Island. Young's first commercial release was Intro, an assured EP made with producers such as LEX1K and Al Shux, Two Inch Punch, and Manuka. Intro was released in November 2019, and was followed a few months later by Renaissance, consisting of three additional Manuka collaborations. A four-song EP made with Manuka and Paul Epworth, a couple additional singles, and a version of Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder's 1985 hit "Together in Electric Dreams" -- heard in an advertisement for department store John Lewis & Partners -- raised Young's profile significantly in 2021. Before the end of that year, she was shortlisted for the 2020 BRITs Rising Star category. Young continued in 2022 with "So Sorry" and "Stream of Consciousness," singles that strengthened her connections to Manuka and Epworth. In early 2023, she issued her debut album, My Mind Wanders and Sometimes Leaves Completely. The release saw her bringing in producers Cass Lowe and Jim-E-Stack, to expand on the work she had previously released. The honest, vitriolic This Wasn't Meant for You Anyway appeared in 2024. ~ Andy Kellman