Next Wave #745: Alice Jemima

Spectral, shimmering songwriting with an electronic touch...

With her mesmerising vocals and simplistic electro pop, Alice Jemima has created her own hypnotising universe. Combining electro with elements of pop and indie, her recent self-titled debut balance the fine line between seductive and naïve.

As music runs in the family, it’s not entirely coincidental that Alice picked up her first guitar at the age of eight. “My mum was a musician, and I guess she wanted me to try out and play different music”, she says. “I didn’t start singing until I was a bit older, but it’s been a big part of my life.”

Alice started out writing poetry and only later realized she could actually sing, opening up a new world in terms of musical exploration. “Some of the stuff I wrote when I was younger I don’t want anyone to hear now,” she admits.

Her self-titled debut captures her emotive and floaty sound in different variations through its twelve tracks. “It’s a collection of tracks I’ve worked on over the past few years, and some new ones,” she tells. “I did a lot of the production myself at home on logic. Then I took the stems to London and we re-recorded some bits. I’m really happy with it.”

With a lot of personal stories and honesty invested in the album, what is the most important thing for people to take away from it? “I guess just that they enjoy it,” she answer honestly. “I just hope that they and can relate to some of the tracks, and want to share it with their friends.”

Upon first listen, it’s easy to head that romance is a heavily featured topic. Being one of the prime focus points of adolescence, Alice reflects a sense of youth through her tracks. Drawing from own experiences and relationships, “good and bad”, she also draws on her “love for murder mysteries”, an inspiration particularly vibrant on ‘Cocoa Liquor’. When it comes to musical inspirations, the list is long. “I like The xx, Shura, Lana Del Ray, and lots of electronic music. I mean like Nicolas Jaar and FKJ and that kind of stuff.”

The xx is a particularly predominant influence on the debut album, alluding to similarities within the soundscape of minimal pop. “They definitely inspired the more minimal kind of sound with the guitar and vocals,” Alice explains. “They helped me find my sound, and what works best with my voice and style of music.”

“Sometimes it’s quite random and I sort of chose words that sounds nice rather than thinking exactly what I’m writing about,” Alice says, touching upon the subject of song writing. “I can be quite random when I’m working. Other times I’ll be feeling something or thinking about something and then write about that.”

Though it was “pretty nerve wrecking” playing her first ever headline tour, it seems to have been a good one. “It was really cool to do that. I played a show in London and people stated dancing, which I haven’t had before. And that was something I’ve always wanted to see so that was really cool.”

Words: Aurora Henni Krogh

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