'My music changes as I change'
Harrison Smith
13:00 20th May 2021

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Ivor Novello winning, South Londoner Mysie is in suitably good spirits. Having just sold out London's Omeara, preparations for an upcoming EP release in full swing and an abundance of other musical ventures in the pipeline, she is rightfully perched on cloud nine. We speak on a rainy Thursday in May. Recently, it’s been a topsy turvy time for us all but Mysie is optimistic. Asking how she has been the past year, she laughs. "The first lockdown happened alongside the Ivor Novello nomination I received and it was absolutely crazy. It’s been a very strange set of circumstances; not being able to go out and not being able to play live, it’s been a bit of a transition in this period. Hopefully we're getting back to the new normal!"

MYSIE has been making waves since early 2019 with her eclectic brand of soul-driven pop. However, we soon learn that things really got going much earlier than that. "My journey really started when I was seven. My mum purchased a piano for me called 'Roland' and honestly, I cried. It was the first time I'd ever cried over music. And that’s really where it all began for me musically. I was trained in classical piano for thirteen years, my granddad was a world-renowned jazz musician in Uganda in the 1950s and my cousin is the producer Ragz Originale, so it’s in the family! But I didn’t really get into creating and composing music until around was around fourteen or fifteen. At sixteen I experienced a heartbreak, which is what actually pushed me to start composing on the piano. Before that, I used to just write to hip-hop beats. I was such a big fan of Thundercat and this really opened my eyes to different forms of music and I realised, as I was just writing over other peoples beats, that the music I was making didn’t feel like mine. So, I started to compose my own songs on piano and I haven’t stopped since!"

Noticing her passion for the genre, we ask for Mysie's thoughts on the direction that hip-hop has taken in the past few years: "I think it’s art! I think things have to develop and grow. It’s really quite amazing how music doesn’t standstill. I do think that this new experimentation in hip-hop is what we need right now, it’s really freeing of the mind."

Mysie’s new EP Undertones drops 21 May. There’s a refreshing flavour to it; mixing minimalist instrumentation, grandiose pop melodies and an undercurrent of melancholic lyrical themes. Speaking of what was driving her to play with so many ideas, she says: "I was really influenced by (fellow South Londoner) Sampha’s 2017 album Process. There was something different listening to that album in lockdown. With not having everything so busy and so fast, just to really sit down and listen to that album felt really different. I really wanted to be very specific in this EP with where I wanted to go sonically, and I felt like Sampha was a great inspiration. I feel like we have a lot of artistic similarities, in the use of harmony and the choice of chords but I always bring that Mysie poppy-hook and soul to it."

Lyrically, Undertones explores the sometimes bittersweet complexities of relationships with others and ourselves. It’s a relatable and honest account of the goings-on within her life up to this point. In terms of the narrative, Mysie is ardent in showing us her world. "It’s about letting you see my emotions and the highs and lows of my relationships which have spanned a couple of years and the healing that’s taking place. It’s really about the underlying problems and feelings within relationships, whether that’s lust, pain, happiness, love and the excitement of finding new love."

On these subjects in the past year, she has become a great deal more introspective, reflecting on herself a lot more than she would have done otherwise. "2020 was probably the most life-changing year for me. With Covid, the lockdowns and everything that is happening with Black Lives Matter so much has been highlighted and I really had to go inwards on myself. There was so much that I hadn’t addressed as a person and this really affects my music. My music changes as I change. It feels like there is so much to unpack but it’s really helping my music develop and music is the greatest outlet for that."

With a desire to be authentic and true to herself, Mysie strips back the sound on Undertones. Opening track ‘Don't Take it Personal’, with its lo-fi groove and simple verse-chorus structure, sees her dipping her toe into the vastly expanding world of bedroom-pop. "It’s quite minimal but we really wanted there to be that groove there. That song was one of the quickest songs we wrote. It flowed out so quickly. I knew when writing it that this song was going to slot right into the EP."

It’s apparent, then, that Mysie writes from real-life experiences. Asking where she draws her inspirations from, she says that "All of my songs are personal. Whether that is to do with me or with the people around me. It usually starts with the melody. It’s then about finding those chords that make you tingle, the chords that make you feel a bit left but right but centre. Then with the groove comes the direction of where I want the song to go. With the track ‘Keep It In Your Heart’: I wrote it four years ago with a writer called Daniel Wilson who worked with Kendrick Lamar. Writing with him was a breath of fresh air. It was interesting bringing that song and those feelings into the session with Fraser T Smith."

So what was it like then, working with Fraser T Smith, a renowned producer with credits to his name that includes hitmakers Craig David and Stormzy? "We went through the tracks lyric by lyric, I wanted to make sure that every line has the intention to carry the right message. People will perceive and interpret it however they choose to. Fraser and I got into a mentorship through the Ivor Novello award and we got to know each other as people and most importantly as friends before we even got into making music. That was such a different experience for me. Most of my working relationships I've got into immediately working with the artist or the producer without really knowing them. So when it came to actually work in the studio and writing there was no pressure, it was a very smooth process. I’m very clear and direct and he obviously wants to enhance what I do."

So when she’s not laying down tracks with world-class producers and cooking up fresh melodies, what is there to Mysie that we may not yet know? "I used to be part of a dance troupe called Wet Wipez and I actually featured in an Example video! Nobody really knows this but that I went to drama school for four years and trained in television, radio and theatre!"

She is certainly someone of many talents. So, with that in mind, if it fell on her to give a TED talk right at this very moment without hesitation or deviation, what subject would she go for? "I could definitely talk about how much I love Nutella. I really love making ice cream and other snacks! I could talk to you about Häagen-Dazs on a big level, totally an underrated ice cream!" I think we’re all together when we say that is a talk we would definitely attend. 

Speaking of all things culinary, if she was to host a dinner party, (when all restrictions allow, of course), who would be her four dream guests? "Beyoncé for sure - and Willow Smith. She is killing it at the moment with producing and writing everything that she is doing, she is really an icon. A Black woman of her age as well is an inspiration to see. The third choice would be Vicky McClure’s character Kate Fleming from BBC One’s Line of Duty. I’ve got a lot of questions to ask her! I’m really attached to that series." And who would receive her fourth and final coveted invite? "Someone really funny, Steve Carrell!" Two actors and two musicians? A great summing up of Mysie’s background then? "Absolutely!"

And finally, with the next few months set aside for promotional ventures, gigs and a hefty amount of sugary-treat baking, what’s next for Mysie? "It would be the second EP and then an album after that. I’m already in the process of working on EP 2 now. I’m looking forward to playing live shows again, and hopefully, they all go ahead! But my main priority is to keep writing away and working on myself as a person." 

On Undertones Mysie’s playful and cunning creative spirit is gloriously showcased. An artist eager to avoid any speck of filler truly knuckles down on her passions and explores the intricacies of matters of the heart through a masterful selection of guitar-driven soul. Lamenting as well as celebrating the attributes of love and the journey of growing up, Mysie cements herself as a captivating force brimming with noteworthy melodies, heartfelt lyrics and a dazzling bounty of fun. 

Undertones EP arrives 21 May via 70Hz/Platoon.

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Photo: Rosanna Jones