Gabrielle Aplin

Gabrielle Aplin is the whipsmart teenage sensation with spirit in her voice and ability to bottle melodic lightning who, at 14, wrote her first song, Ghosts. At 17, she made it the title track of her first EP. At the same age, she set up her own label, Never Fade Records. Soon she had landed herself a booking agent and was plotting her own tours round the UK. By 18 she had released two further EPs and was running a profit making DIY artist’s enterprise – with plans already afoot to plough those profits back into other similarly inclined musicians she’d encountered along the way. At 19, Aplin decided she’d learnt what she needed to learn under her own steam and was ready to take things to the next level. From all the competing offers from established labels, she accepted the one from Parlophone.

Channelling the classic songwriting her ‘totally hippie’ parents surrounded her with in childhood – Nick Drake, Bruce Springsteen,– Aplin has already crafted a selection of timeless but also of-the-moment anthems. Big songs, but songs that are intimate too. Home is an emotive, emotion tapping hit-in-waiting with a huge, choral sweep. It was written when this self-confessed ‘country bumpkin’ was pining for her village after relocating to one of London’s more, ah, underwhelming corners. November is named after her favourite month, references a ‘horrible fight’ she had with someone close to her, and finds kinship with her two favourite bands, Elbow and The National. It’s big, rousing, and carousing. Then there’s Ready To Question, a rollicking number that touches on sea-shanties, roots music and gospel, and was inspired by Aplin’s love of the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack. First out of the blocks, though, is the instantly sing-along Please Don’t Say You Love Me, which is released as a first single on Parlophone on February 10th.

Gabrielle Aplin – experienced newcomer, a rare talent with the common touch – knows who she is and where she’s going. And she’s determined to take fans, old and new, with her. “I think people have been drawn to my honesty and my openness, I suppose, and the fact that I interact and engage.” She adds. “It’s not as if they’re listening to someone who’s not there. I’ll reply to fans on my website and through Twitter. I’m just very honest in terms of songwriting as well. And being honest has gotten me this far. So I’m gonna carry on doing that.” A self-taught musician, Gabrielle already has firm ideas about what she wants. Gabrielle Aplin is a real girl with real talent, and a brand new star of tomorrow. Say hello to a breath of fresh air.