“A splash of cold water to the face as far as the pop landscape is concerned.” – Dazed
“The pop maverick has crafted a signature Day-Glo blend of ’90s rap, rave and profanity-laden pop-punk” – Rolling Stone UK
“A brilliantly chaotic sound” – i-D
“Gutsy and spiky-edged come to mind when digesting the alt-pop bops of Willow Kayne.” – The Line Of Best Fit
“The Gen Z talent links together huge opposing forces, creating her own potent brand of rebel-pop.” – Clash
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London, UK – After launching with the genre-blurring “Two Seater” in 2021, Bristol born, London based vocalist and visual artist Willow Kayne has enjoyed a prodigious ascent to the pinnacle of pop music’s more daring corners; taking inspiration from the bass-tinged sonics of her hometown while writing some of the genre’s most memorable hooks of recent years. Her postmodern approach to songwriting was rewarded in 2021 with Willow receiving the Ivor Novello Rising Star award, setting her on a path to achieve greatness from the outset of her career. Her riotously received debut EP Playground Antics was the catalyst for an explosion of rave reviews across the board, while with live shows and online previews, she has shared a glimpse of the soundtrack to her ever-expanding sonic world. The first taste of this was the explosive jungle-pop of last month’s ”Final Notice, ” and today Willow unveils a surreal portrait of her surroundings with new single “White City. ”
Opening to crashing trip-hop infused drums, the track is welcomed by an eerie choir that sets the scene for the darker side of “White City” before Willow’s heavily treated vocal guides the listener through the area’s dull underbelly. By far Willow’s most sonically adventurous track to date, it’s also one of her most melodic; integrating her postmodern pop touch to juxtapose a brightness underneath the track’s pervading anxiety and introspection. Taking a closer look at the intricacies of the place she initially called home when she relocated to London, Willow muses at the different perspectives of its inhabitants; where unfathomable wealth is grouped with those desperately trying to scrape by, and where different situations mean different priorities for everyone. It’s also the place where she feels most anonymous, her own luxury which has allowed her to observe as a true outsider.
On the track, Willow says: “’White City’ is an interesting place to live. Everyone’s experiences are completely different to one another, like many places in London it seems. Gigantic new buildings appear constantly, old buildings are being destroyed everywhere I look.
When I walk down the street here, it is a complete mixture of people. I don’t know any of them and I like it here because they certainly don’t know me. We are simply all out here for ourselves.”
Already with a host of accolades under her belt at such an early stage in her career, Willow Kayne’s rise has been nothing short of spectacular. Building on the varied foundations of her Playground Antics EP, Willow is broadening the horizons of her sound further with each release, delving deeper into experimentalism while creating some of the most thrilling works of UK pop music in recent memory.
(Official artwork)
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