Meet Amie Blu, the South London singer ready to hit you in the feels

By the own admission of 21-year-old Amie Blu, soul-bearing honesty is at the front and centre of her music.

“I think it shows how honest I want to be, how vulnerable I want to be and I want to find people who can relate to me constantly with that,” she explains of her debut full-length project how we lose, which arrives this Friday (July 19).

One listen shows that the South Londoner is already a dab hand at delivering guitar-flecked soul that can break your heart within seconds (see the soaring ‘who’s he gonna take home’).

She’s also had a ringing endorsement from the London Gospel Community Choir too – telling RS UK about the time she was thrown into the deep end and delivered one of her first ever performances with the group when out with her family for Mother’s Day as a child.

Having performed with the venerable Flames Collective too, it seems like now is the time for Amie to step out and become a bold musical voice in her own right.

Hey, Amie! How’s your day been so far?

I’ve just come back from a singing lesson. When I started music I found it difficult to understand how important it is to maintain your voice and the work you have to do in order to do that. So it’s learning how to be safe with my voice, but also the idea of projection too. I sing quite quietly because I sing a lot in my head voice, so I had to learn how to project and become broader than that range. Singing lessons are just so beneficial.

You mentioned singing in the voice in your head. Are your songs an extension of that? There’s some pretty personal themes on there.

When I’ve made songs, I want to take a while on figuring out the approach and recording it in the most vulnerable way if it’s in my head voice. If I’ve got my singing-with-my-chest voice, it conveys more confidence I think.

What does your first mixtape say about you as an artist?

I think it says I am constantly evolving and just trying to progress. I think it also shows how honest I want to be, how vulnerable too and find people who can relate to me constantly with that. Because I really struggle writing anything from the perspective of someone else. So I always want to be truthful and I feel like everyone else will be able to hear that and feel the honesty within these songs.

You touch on themes like toxic relationships and jealousy. Given how personal your music is, was it cathartic to mine that in music?

It’s such a cliche, but music is just such a therapy for me. I often find myself not really understanding how I feel or why I feel the way that I do. Then I put it into a song and I just get so much clarity on the situation, or my own closure. If I’m not able to get that from other people then it just feels amazing.

Who are your musical influences?

It’s strange because when I grew up, my dad would listen to a lot of rap and he would explain how important that storytelling is, people like Eminem and Biggie. And then my mum was very much into Justin Timberlake and Alicia Keys so I guess the melodies came from that side.

At the time I was writing this project, I was listening to a lot of The Beatles and Billy Joel. I worked with a team of producers who happily shared what they were listening to as well and that really helped.

What was your first notable experience in music?

To be honest, my earliest memory was when my family went to lunch for Mother’s Day and this restaurant had the London Gospel Community Choir singing there. My dad asked the restaurant owner if I could sing and I didn’t necessarily want to be put on the spot, but the song was ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ by Alicias Keys and I did the chorus and thought that was it.

But the choir wanted me to keep going and one of the members ended up being my singing teacher for, like, a year or two from that. The reassurance and validation that came from them asking me to continue to sing just felt really good, especially at that age. My dad was always encouraging me to do things like that.

Performing wise, I’ve done shows with Mahalia who is lovely. I’ve done support slots with Christine & The Queens, I’ve done a show at Glastonbury and now I’m looking ahead to my show at London’s Omeara later this year and The Deaf Institute in Manchester. I can’t wait.

And just finally, this is our PlayNext series, where it’s obviously a chance for you to introduce yourself to our readers. If you’ve been put in an elevator, how are you describing your music for the duration of that journey?

I’d say that my name is Amie Blu, I make predominantly sad music but it’s really honest and it’s really personal. And you should listen to it!