Rising Star Award with Apple Music

Introducing the Nominees...

Making your way as a songwriter or composer has always had its challenges, but the past 12 months probably represent the most difficult year ever to try and make it in the music industry as a creative.

So it is truly heartening to see the sensational talents assembled for the second annual Rising Star Award with Apple Music, all of whom have done spectacular work throughout the ravages of a global pandemic.

After all, this is a prize which honours young British and Irish songwriters and composers with exceptional potential and ambition. All the nominees will receive a mentorship from an established Ivors Academy member and leaders from Apple Music, with this year’s mentors featuring Cathy Dennis, Nile Rodgers, Jamie Hartman, Jamie Scott and Fiona Bevan.

But whoever ultimately picks up the gong at The Ivors ceremony, the future looks bright for all five nominees, and indeed for the next generation of Academy members, as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis into a brave new world…

Take ALLEGRA. The soulful singersongwriter’s ascent has already involved everything from cutting her first demo at 13, to walking away from it all to volunteer at a Buddhist retreat centre. For her, Ivors recognition equals true validation.

“It means good things come from writing and living honestly,” she grins. “I’ve tried my hand at different forms of expression and experimented with different styles of songwriting. But the songs that awarded me this nomination have been what I really wanted to say and, musically speaking, how I most wanted to say it. When I’m finally being myself, other people do appreciate it!” And there is plenty to appreciate with Allegra’s songs, as seen on singles Spectacles and Excuse Me. Lyrically, she says “there isn’t a phrase that isn’t sharp, even when it’s gentle” while each song “charts new emotional territory”. She now plans to “capture as many songs that I have inside me as possible”. But, ultimately, all that writing is serving a greater purpose. “It doesn’t mean anything if I’m not connected with what I’m truly trying to express,” she says. “Maintaining that connection is the most important thing.”

One singer-songwriter who knows all about forming such a bond is RACHEL CHINOURIRI. She hails from Croydon, is of Zimbabwean heritage and has already seen her emotional anthems find favour with Michaela Cole and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. “I want to be known as a true creative,” she says. “I want to make something which no one has done. I want to explore genres, cultures and sounds because music is universal. There’s too much music in this world to limit myself.” And there’s certainly no ceiling on what Chinouriri could achieve. Her debut EP, Four° In Winter, already has over 2.5 million streams and showcases a writer with a song for every occasion. “My approach is quite complex,” she says. “I try to find a melody that meanders through rhythms in the instrumental. I look at the voice like an instrument which compliments the instrumental and takes you on a journey.”

Rachel Chinouriri

Introducing Chinouriri’s own voyage is already proceeding very nicely, but she’s hungry for more, seeing the Ivors nod as “the extra push I needed after how difficult it’s been to find inspiration during the pandemic”.

HOLLY HUMBERSTONE has been similarly impacted by what she calls “a very weird year, filled with anxiety and uncertainty”. “I feel as if I’ve been stuck in lockdown for my whole career so far,” she says. “I’ve watched the streaming numbers grow, but never seen any physical proof people are appreciating the music I’ve put so much love into. Being nominated feels amazing.” Despite the isolation, Humberstone’s career has moved way beyond her hometown of Grantham. The unique singer-songwriter – all cutting lyrics and irresistible melodies – has already become an Apple Music Up Next artist and placed second on the BBC’s Sound Of 2021, proof of her work’s emotional resonance. “Since I was small, writing was my way of relieving anxieties and working through confusing things I was feeling,” she says. “If the songs can help listeners in the same way they helped me, I hope the music can spread to more people.” That’s already happening, with Deep End and Please Don’t Leave Just Yet helping her reach a huge audience. But it’s the art of songwriting which truly energises her, as she pledges to “remain authentic and unchanged by the external pressures of this weird world”.

KAMAL. is familiar with that world, having written Homebody, one of the de facto lockdown anthems, even though it was actually penned pre-quarantine. Now, however, the singer-songwriter – who already has tens of millions of streams for his pop-R&B jams – is ready to really go places, in every sense of the phrase. “I definitely want to grow as an artist, both in terms of audience and in sound,” he says. “What’s more important, regardless of the numbers, is that I’m able to make music I enjoy and am proud of. If that isn’t the case, it’ll suck the joy out of the thing that I love.”

Holly Humberstone

There’s surely no chance of that happening, with Kamal’s “improvised” writing style already earning major co-signs from the likes of Dave, Annie Mac and Billie Eilish, as well as the “overwhelming” Rising Star nod. “I’m gassed to get such recognition for my writing, because it’s something I’ve put a lot of time into,” he smiles. “It’s given me a burst of motivation and almost reinvigorated my love for making songs and music.” That’s a common theme amongst The Ivors Class Of 2021, as they celebrate their emergence from what will (hopefully) be the most challenging period of their careers.

WILLOW KAYNE says the nomination has “only made me want to improve my songwriting and see how far I can take it”, but the truth is, her skills have already helped her go a long way. Peppering her compositions with hip-hop, hazy electronica and punk attitude, as well as lyrics so sharp you could cut yourself on them, she’s already been signed up by Dua Lipa’s management team and scored a major label deal with Columbia. Meanwhile, her irrepressible debut single, Two Seater, laid down a marker as only a potential future superstar can. “If I can keep doing my hobby as a career, I am a happy lady,” she affirms. “I originally started writing because I could say feelings that I wouldn’t usually express out loud – that really hasn’t changed, even now!” As a result, even greater things are surely coming. “I’ve been given a chance to build my own world, to look and sound exactly how I like,” she enthuses. “I would be silly not to do it!” And there, Willow Kayne surely articulates not just the views of her fellow nominees, but all songwriters as they emerge after 18 months of darkness. Long may these Rising Stars shine.

Kamal.

Willow Kayne