Alt-pop newcomer - and Ivor Novello winner - Willow Kayne delivers uncompromising takedowns and high-energy bops.
Words: Martyn Young. Photos: Bedroom.
"You can do whatever you want," says Willow Kayne about the culture surrounding music in 2021. A culture in which, by dropping just two peerless pop bangers, she has effortlessly announced herself as one of the most exciting new pop stars going. Willow Kayne certainly is going to do whatever she wants, and we're going to listen.
It's hard to overstate just what a character Willow Kayne is. Positively bursting with personality and attitude, Willow is hilarious, completely self-aware, haphazardly chaotic, gloriously inventive and creative and almost cartoonishly fun in the best possible way. In short, she's everything that makes a thrilling pop package, powered on energy and enthusiasm. Like consuming five cans of the more garish technicolour energy drinks, her vibe is always set to maximum. For Willow, her main passions are threefold, and each informs the other. "I really like fashion, graphics and music. Luckily they all work hand in hand," she says excitedly before casually dropping in, "I'll probably end up directing music videos in the future," like it's the easiest and most obvious thing in the world. You see, that's the thing with Willow: anything and everything is possible.
Although she has only released two songs properly this year in the anthemic 'Two Seater' and high-energy middle-finger kiss off for the trolls of her latest single 'I Don't Wanna Know', those two songs have made a gargantuan impression. For those "in the know", though, Willow has been making compelling odd pop for a while on Soundcloud. Some of those early songs have disappeared; however, some other examples of Willow's maverick genius remain, like the super cool, super strange lo-fi rap of 'Gibberish'. "That song started the whole chain reaction," she explains. "I didn't realise that it would get so much recognition. At the time, it only had like 40k streams, but I was like, oh wow, 40,000 people like my song!"
