Signed to Capitol/Roc Nation, and just 21 years old, Arlissa’s spent the summer recording her debut album, ahead of a lightning-quick start to the year (BBC Sound of 2013, a duet with Nas). She’s guested on some tracks with Wilkinson & Friction, but her solo stuff is a bit more diverse: see a recent, beautiful cover of Olive’s ‘You’re Not Alone‘, which was picked up heavily by the BBC. In the UK, ‘Into The Light’ has recently been selected for the Littlewoods advert, which it soundtracks from September right the way through to Christmas.
Driven by tribal beats, a Celtic riff and Arlissa’s soaring vocals, ‘Into the Light’ is an exhilarating return from the Roc Nation management signee. It emerged in the uncertain period of Arlissa breaking up with her first boyfriend, moving out of the family home and declining a place at university: instead, she worked at a clothes shop, using the wages to fund studio time for her burgeoning songwriting. Despite stemming from dark times, ‘Into The Light’ captures that dual excitement of “not knowing what’s going to happen next, and believing that things will turn out as they’re supposed to” (a Zen proverb from her father, “no snowflake falls in the wrong place”, is cited in the song’s lyrics).
Inspired by the likes of Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush and Crystal Fighters, Arlissa’s sound combines universal struggles of heartache and independence with production that’s more upbeat, escapist and strong. Half German, half American but raised in Crystal Palace, she was thrown into the spotlight late last year: Nas was passed her demo via a publisher, and flew Arlissa out to L.A to record a song together. ‘Hard To Love Somebody’ became his second ever duet with a UK artist, following ‘Cherry Wine’ with Amy Winehouse. Then came Arlissa’s debut single, March’s acclaimed ‘Sticks & Stones’, which provided the blueprint for her solo material. And the debut album, tentatively entitled ‘Battles’, takes this even further. Alongside ‘Into the Light’, a stark one-off cover of Olive’s ‘You’re Not Alone’ – which featured prominently in the BBC’s acclaimed What Remains’ – has offered some early clues as to what else to expect.
Arlissa
New single – ‘Into the Light’ – released November 24
Pre-order: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/
