Hi Taura! Thanks for talking to us at ReVamp Magazine. You’ve just released your album ‘Revisions’ this year. Congratulations! What was the inspiration behind it?

Hi guys! Thank you so much for chatting with me! Revisions has sort of accidentally been a process of many years. Some of the songs I wrote a long time ago (I think I wrote Responsible in 2016!!) and have been pulled apart and re-written and re-produced through the 2020/2021 lockdowns, and some are songs that I wrote a month before release with producers over zoom that I still haven’t even met yet. Due to all this back and forth, and a lot of writing virtually over emails and FaceTime through the pandemic, most of the tracks sound completely different to how they did when they were originally written. They’ve had many ‘revisions’ to get to where they sound today.
As my first EP was written and produced entirely alone, I wanted to collaborate with as many people as possible… I decided this about a week before the pandemic hit, so not the world's best timing! However, in the end, Revisions has 10 different producers involved and many more collaborators, so even though it was not the process I initially imagined for my second collection, I really feel as though I reached my goal as an artist, and we reached the sound I was striving for as a collective. We created smooth R&B pop music that can be personal and vulnerable and strong and empowering depending on which part of the journey you tune in. As a whole, it’s all about development and growth. It’s about adapting and working with your strengths, and it’s a bit of a reminder that sometimes an unexpected change can result in some good.

Why did you choose ‘Love Song’ as the leading track?

To me, there are elements within Love Song that kind of encapsulate the part of pop music that I love, it feels reminiscent of mid 10’s pop music and makes me feel a bit nostalgic for my teen-self! I think in terms of the sound world and production, it was the perfect way to tie up the collection. I feel like with this song you can really hear the growth from the first EP Lucky Girls, and I love that about it. I also just think it’s fun and a bit cheeky and sarcastic, which I’d like to play more with in the future. 

The video to ‘Love Song’ is an absolute genius with you re doing iconic artworks such as Sasha Fierce, Teenage Dream, Fearless by Taylor Swift, and many more. Who were your inspirations growing up?

Thank you so much! I absolutely love the video too, it was so much fun to make. Most of the artists in the video were big inspirations to me growing up actually, which I guess is why I thought of them when it came to creating the video (especially Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton). Music in general definitely played a big part in my childhood and often triggers some very happy memories. I’ve got 3 sisters and my Mum always said she could never ever wake us up so she used to blare music out as loud as she could every morning before school… slightly stressful but also pretty fun! As a child I listened to all the classics - Queen, Dolly Parton, Elvis, Whitney Houston, (does Wheatus count as a classic?? I think so) and my Dad would have Van Morrison on at every other opportunity. As I grew up, I got onto a major pop hype. The only word I could use is OBSESSED. Britney, Beyonce, and Rihanna were my ultimate favourites (I also had a very severe case of Bieber fever, as did my bedroom walls apparently), and then I got stuck on the more pop/R&B side and have stayed there ever since. Ne-yo, TLC, Destiny’s Child, Ashanti, Aaliyah, Tamia… I could go on forever. Although the first album I actually bought myself was The Very Best of Peter Andre…slightly less expected but I think I still stand by the decision.

I’ve listened to the album and it’s a great album to relax and chill or even an album to play in the car while you’re driving through the countryside. Often albums have 12-16 tracks these days. What made you pick just 10 tracks? It gives me proper nostalgia as I remember the Spice Girls only having 10 songs on their albums back in the 90s.

So to be honest, I never really planned on Revisions being an album, the second collection I released was always supposed to be another EP, which I guess is why it’s a little shorter than the average album these days. I had worked with so many people virtually throughout the lockdowns, and we had so much music, I just couldn’t bring myself to cut it down to 3 or 4 tracks. These 10 were my ‘musts’, so I stuck with them. I absolutely love these songs and wanted to give them all a space, which is also a reason I decided to release them slowly, month by month for 9 months. I felt like they all deserved a chance to breath and be at the forefront for a few weeks, and I’m really glad I ended up doing it in that way. Really, I still call it a collection more than an album when talking about it, just because I didn’t write it in the way I think I would if I were to actively decide to write an album. I actually think lockdown played in my favour here, as I think it allowed me to remain in quite a static, specific mindset with a specific vision throughout a lot of the creation process, which meant even though it wasn’t technically written as an album, it stayed cohesive and still flowed like an album would. 

What else have you got planned for 2022? Are we going to see another iconic video from the album?

So I actually already have some new music that I’m really excited about, but as I’ve released so much music the last year, I’m planning on letting the tracks settle and grow for a few months and focus on writing and live shows. I’ve recently got back into performing live after 2 years and remembered how much I love it! And writing really is the bit I love most about the whole process, so I think I’m going to have a very fun few months. But look out for some new tunes in the second half of the year!

Lastly, have you got a message that you would like to say to your readers?

I’d just like to thank you so much for the support so far and for listening to the music. I’ve really poured my heart into this collection so hearing that people enjoy it is literally a dream come true. Thank you!