Pals with the likes of The Big Moon and Swim Deep, Phoebe Green is taking fun and witty pop to bold new places.
Perched in a corner of The Lexington in North London, it's fair to say Phoebe Green is buzzing. Later tonight, she'll be onstage supporting The Big Moon to a packed room well aware of the future star in front of them - one primed to be selling out venues like this in a matter of no time. Phoebe's also currently supporting Swim Deep across the UK (a band she confesses she's been a massive fan of for years), and there's an undeniable sense that things are about to get very big indeed.
"It's been really interesting over the past few months," she continues. "Depending on the place we've been, people have either come up to me at the end of our set and said 'I didn't have a clue who you were before this, but now I love it', or it's 'I've travelled across the country to see ya'. It's such a contrast, but the reaction has been amazing - better than I ever could have expected.
"I thought we would be turning up to venues, nobody would be there, and everyone would turn up after our set…" Phoebe catches herself, "I'm not usually that pessimistic.
With the sort of immediate warmth that grips from the first note, it's easy to see why people have stood to attention. In 'Dreaming Of' and 'Easy Peeler', Phoebe's laid out two of 2019's most immediate bops, signalling the arrival of a songwriter pulling inspiration together across the board and standing aside from the pack.
Writing diaries full of observations from the world around her from an early age, Phoebe was born to be out front for the whole world to see. "From when I was a toddler, I was always a performer," she laughs. "I loved being the centre of attention or being the main character in nativity plays and stuff like that. I just always wanted to sing and everything else that came with it."
First drawn to classic film soundtracks and indie favourites such as Wolf Alice, it was only when Phoebe packed up her bags and moved to Manchester that the world truly opened.
"Moving from a small, very close-minded seaside town to like one of the coolest cities ever - I think it just made me come into myself a lot more because I never really felt at home amongst the kind-of people I grew up around," notes Phoebe. "As soon as I got to uni and was surrounded by musicians and other young people, it definitely shifted the way I was as a person.
While 'Easy Peeler' and 'Dreaming Of' might be turning heads at the moment (the former co-written with Jules from The Big Moon no less), it was debut collection '02:00 Am' that first drew the eyes of famed label Chess Club.
Laying the groundwork for what comes next, it was the first marker for a sound that now feels bolder and open to go down whatever avenue Phoebe feels like heading to next. "Now, it's a lot more stylistically interesting. I don't know how to explain it, but a lot more intentional. It's presenting myself as an artist rather than just presenting my emotions - now I'm doing both."
A future pop maestro, it's why Phoebe's 2020 is destined to be essential. Attention now turns to that anticipated new album, with a new era and countless stages on the horizon. "I definitely want to create a body of work that's really representative of me," ponders Phoebe, "because I've changed a lot since the last album. I want to present to people who I am now, what I'm about, the way I feel about certain things and the way I navigate certain situations."
Phoebe Green heads into the night, pinching herself at the situation she now finds herself in. "Like, the fact I've now written with Jules from The Big Moon, and the fact I'm now on tour with Swim Deep and such good friends with them… it's so surreal. I don't dwell on it because it all feels so normal now. It's just another day."
Phoebe pauses with a smile. "But it is mad!"
Taken from the December 2019 / January 2020 issue of Dork.
Words: Jamie Muir
The track previews her second album, co-produced with Jack Antonoff and Yves Rothman.
