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JESSICA WILDE enlists ZOE KYPRI for soul searing new single ‘Feathers’!

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Singer, songwriter, rapper, producer and South London native Jessica Wilde, returns with the second single of her forthcoming album, ‘Feathers’, featuring the soul searing vocals of Zoe Kypri. With the first release of the project ‘Freak Out’ garnering heavy support on BBC Radio 1 ‘Future Artists’ with tastemakers Jack Saunders and Jess Iszatt who championed the track on both Radio 1 and BBC Introducing, saying ‘This has to be the coolest tune on the lineup’.

‘Feathers’ now continues the empowering themes of this album, slated for a May 2024 release, as Wilde joins forces with the deluxe rich tones of Zoe Kypri, just back from performing at the iconic Madison Square Gardens (New York) with Black Coffee.

‘Feathers’ is a song about rising together, realising your strength and power, breaking old behaviours, and creating new pathways to grow, as they hypnotically enchant, “I got feathers in my back, that I didn’t know I had, now I know who I am.”

For these two artists in their prime, who are also close friends, this was a special moment, getting in the studio together has been a long time coming, and they both had a feeling there would be real chemistry and a great track recorded in the process and they are clearly clairvoyant. The song reflects both of their personal and mirroring journeys in how they have uplifted and helped one another through times of shifts and darkness, to step into their light.

Both singers bare their hearts and souls through their music, with Wilde’s debut project ‘Sober, Wasted, Wasted, Sober’ sharing a brutally honest account through confessional lyrics about her journey in addiction and toxic relationships, metamorphosized to a life committed to self-love and living sober, juxtaposed by Zoe’s introspection of private worlds, feelings conflicting the mind and soul, revelations on experience and desires of a better world. It truly showcases a unique and compelling drawing together of two incredible artists able to entwine layers of luscious vocals in the cage of a raw unmistaken London grit.

The two independent artists have been making waves individually too. With Wilde gaining growing support from not only BBC Radio 1 but also 6 Music, BBC Radio London, KISS, editorial playlist support across DSP’s with regular ‘Fresh Finds’ support as well as features in CLASH, Complex, Wonderland, The Independent and many more – To Zoe Zypri going global this summer with her song ‘Horizon Red’ with Made by Pete, which hit over 150 million streams worldwide, championed and remixed by the legends Black Coffee and Damian Lazurus. Between them, they have caught the attention and collaborated with the likes of Rudimental, Emeli Sande, Grammy award winner Kizzo, Todd Terry, Sigma and Black Coffee.

Jessica Wilde upcoming shows:

PxSSY PWR @ Hootananny Brixton 13/12/23

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Acclaimed US singer-songwriter Juliet Lloyd to tour the UK for the first time this summer.

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Shortly after releasing her sophomore album in 2007, US-based singer-songwriter Juliet Lloyd walked away from music completely for more than 10 years, feeling burned out and unhappy with her career progression like so many other independent artists. After going through a divorce in 2019 and in the midst of a global pandemic, she found herself pulled back toward the siren call of songwriting and again making the leap to pursue it full time. Her latest album ‘Carnival’, released in 2024, is in many ways the culmination of those decisions, and the reintroduction of an artist who now has the wisdom of experience.

There’s an unmistakable urgency you can feel when a song is written and performed from a place of complete honesty. That feeling permeates ‘Carnival’. “I’ve always been envious of writers who say they write songs because they have to, because they had these things they just had to get out of themselves,” Juliet says. “I had never really felt that way until this album. I’ve become someone who writes because they have to.”

Stylistically, ‘Carnival’ draws on a range of influences from Laurel Canyon-era singer/songwriters, to Lilith Fair rockers, to confessional country/folk balladeers, to indie pop. The central theme of the record and that of its title track is not being too precious about any one experience or decision. Take them for what they are, live in the moment, and move on when they’re done. It acknowledges also that memory can be subjective, and ambiguous—was an experience ultimately a good thing or a bad thing? And whose memory can you rely on to determine the answer to that question?

‘Carnival’ doesn’t just deal with the complexities of ending relationships, it also deals with all the feelings that come with moving on. The album’snine songs feature evocative storytelling that reveals a simple truth: when the carnival inevitably leaves town, you’re left with an empty parking lot. And how you remember, it is a choice. As Juliet sings in the title track, “If only there was a way you could bottle up that feeling / and you’d drink it in / when the days are short and you long.”

Across her 20+ year career, Juliet has been admittedly stylistically non-monogamous. Her first full-length album, ‘All Dressed Up’, was released in 2005 and was heavily jazz-influenced- a label that she rejected at the time. “I am a piano player and a woman, so I was immediately compared to Norah Jones—and I bristled at that,” Juliet says. “Listening back now, I can totally see that it was true, and it of course wasn’t a bad thing.” Her follow-up release ‘Leave the Light On,’ came out two years later and featured a slick piano-pop production that led to five of its songs being placed on reality TV shows on MTV and VH1. Coming back after her 10-year break from writing and recording, Juliet released ‘High Road’, a collection of five Americana/soul-tinged songs produced by Jim Ebert (Meredith Brooks, Shai) that earned her widespread recognition and songwriting awards both in her home region of DC as well as nationally.

Now with her first ever UK tour scheduled for July 2025, Juliet has also dropped a completely brand-new single ‘Wild Again’, which like ‘Carnival’, was written with and produced by Todd Wright (Lucy Woodward, Butch Walker, Toby Lightman). ‘Wild Again’, however, charts yet another new step in Juliet’s journey.

Carnival’, is full of deeply personal songs that are drawn from my real-life experiences and relationships. Coming out of that album cycle, I was feeling a little exhausted by my own navel-gazing and I was craving inspiration elsewhere. So, a lot of the songs I’m writing now are an evolution of sorts – focused more on external stimuli and finding the personal stories and humanity in that. Wild Again is a perfect example of this,” she explains.

The idea for ‘Wild Again’ was born out of a NY Times podcast Juliet listened to about the real-life efforts to return the whale that played Willy in the iconic movie ‘Free Willy’ back into the wild.

“It’s an insane, heartbreaking story that asks all kinds of thorny questions about human responsibility and humility and what’s the “right” thing to do and is that the same as the “kind” thing to do. There was a line that one of the trainers said in the podcast, explaining that they were trying to “train him to be wild again.” The complete absurdity of that statement hit me in the moment, and I immediately started jotting down lyrical ideas”, Juliet says.

Catch Juliet Lloyd on her UK tour this July:

1st July: The Folklore Rooms / Brighton
2nd July: The Hyde Tavern / Winchester
3rd July: Hen and Chicken / Bristol (CRH Music promotions)
4th July: Artisan Tap Hartshill / Stoke-on-Trent

5th July: Waggon & Horses, Nottingham

6th July: Cafe#9 / Sheffield
7th July: Hyde Park Book Club / Leeds
10th July: FortyFive Vinyl Café / York
11th July: The Muddy Puddle / London
13th July: The Wrotham Arms / Broadstairs

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