Londoner Rose Gray transforms lockdown sadness into inspiration.
By: Chloe Johnson.
East London’s Rose Gray is big on nostalgia, her love for 90s dance music shining through every song - from breakthrough single ‘Same Cloud’ which set tongues wagging back in autumn 2020, to her recent cover of ‘Nothing Can Stop Us’ by Saint Etienne. There’s something tangible about her music, which - teamed with her strong storytelling prowess, and producer Rob Milton (Easy Life) - makes her an exciting prospect for the year ahead.
Hi, Rose. You’re often described as telling sweeping stories with your lyrics, how do you approach writing?
I try not to give myself rules. I do write a lot of my songs as notes on my phone, concepts on my phone, so I do call myself a lyricist. I have a lot of poems and writings that I’ve built myself up, but if I’m at home writing, I do write a lot of my stuff on the spot.
You have a new mixtape coming up, right? How would you describe its sound?
I think it’s really fun, there’s a massive influence of 90s dance music! It’s quite classic with a lot of breakbeats. One thing as well that I feel threads through the whole mixtape is there’s a lot of lyricism, there’s a real story that comes through. It’s about a time of my life where I was partying and going out a lot, and so it feels like it’s going through motion.
