Indie-pop princess Eliza Doolittle is just a tad tired of comparisons to labelmate Lily Allen. And she has a point.
Listen to her delightful debut album and the points of reference shining through are more akin to The Beach Boys, The Kinks, Stevie Wonder, Vampire Weekend and even Arctic Monkeys. Plus elements of jazz, blues and soul in that deliciously melodic collection of songs.
Okay, there might be one wee bit of her that sounds a touch like Allen but, as we all know, one swallow does not a summer make…
As Eliza told Rocktalk, “I think we’re completely different and I think I’m completely different to anything else. I do like a lot of different people and I write about whatever I like. I don’t think about genres I just get the song and go for it.
“It’s old-fashioned pop music, a throwback to when there were no different genres it was all just popular music.”
And the results have been astounding: her debut album went gold, hitting the top three in the album charts and two top 20 singles (Pack up went top five) followed.
“It’s been amazing way better than I thought it would be,” she admitted. “I started writing from quite a young age and first recorded a song called Mr Mysterious. I recorded it at my friend’s brother’s house. I got a publishing deal at 16 and then signed a deal about two years ago. I spent all that time trying to find out my own sound. Obviously the songs I wrote when I was 14 or 15 are a lot different to the ones I wrote when I was 18 but then I started out wanting to be in Destiny’s Child!”
Ultimately, Eliza wants people who listen to her music to have fun.
“I want to write songs people can sing to. I can think of nothing more exciting than travelling the world and playing to audiences and having them sing your words.”IncredibleTo that end, she’s been developing her live act, now surrounding herself with “the most incredible musicians they’re offbeat, really cool, and they’re singing the songs with me too.
“When I first played live I would shake with fear and my voice would tremble. But I do it for the love of it. There’s nothing I love more than playing live.”
Eliza toured the UK around the July release of the self-titled album, which brought her up north to Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival.
“Belladrum was brilliant it was one of my favourite festivals of the year. I loved it and there was a great crowd, all singing along and leaping about but Scottish crowds are always great. I’ve got a soft spot for Scotland anyway because all the radio DJs have played my stuff right from the start. I don’t know why, but I’m very grateful for it.
“My grandad is Scottish, too, although I don’t know where he was from. I’ll have to research my roots I think.”Eliza is back in Scotland on Thursday, October 21, for a slot at Fat Sam’s in Dundee. The bad news for anyone interested is that the gig is already a sell-out. Support comes from London-based pop singer Joe Worricker.