She’s already made one hell of an impression with her ‘No Romeo’ EP, but that wasn’t gonna be enough for wannabe rock star Dylan. With new mixtape ‘The Greatest Thing I’ll Never Learn’, the London-based artist is about to add a formidable range of new textures to her well-equipped tool belt.
Although there is evident grief and pain in Dylan’s life, with regrettable decisions and poorly chosen partners, she decides to instead focus on bringing fist-in-the-air choruses to encourage her fans to keep moving forward. Mixtape closer ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’ is a surprising example of her often glossed-over vulnerability, though: “I wanted to write a ballad for the mixtape because it’s otherwise full of gigantic songs and I wanted to have something to compare them to”.
After sketching some lines and taking it into the studio, she made one immediate declaration: “I do not want this to be about me. I want this to be really distant because I want to reveal my emotions in a way that doesn’t put me in a compromising position. I don’t like not being strong.”
Through a flurry of pop-driven ventures, Dylan has been able to put her struggles on a pedestal and actually celebrate overcoming them; this is something Natasha Woods couldn’t even comprehend before donning the moniker just a few short years ago.
“The lines that separated me from Dylan have blurred massively, which is a beautiful but scary thing,” she says. “I used to be so ashamed of myself and wanted, tried even, to be anyone else but me. As soon as I gave up that façade, I started writing music that I really loved and everything started to make much more sense.”
Now feeling comfortable with herself, Dylan is able to navigate her life and career with confidence. Friendships and relationships are the one area in which she is still facing turmoil, though, and that has become the basis of her new mixtape. “It’s the aspect that I struggle most with in my life, which is why I write about it,” she confesses. “People can walk in and out of your life as they please and the only constant is you.”
‘The Greatest Thing I’ll Never Learn’ gifts catharsis to those with similar feelings, but it’s clear Dylan still has some things to figure out. If home is where the heart is, where does she feel most settled? “That’s the point of the song – I don’t know yet,” she answers.
WHAT: Pop jewels built for stadiums
WHERE: London
3 SONGS: ‘No Romeo’, ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’, ‘Blue’
FACT: Dylan spent her summer opening for pop goliath Ed Sheeran
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Words: Finlay Holden
Photography: Sophie Mayanne
Fashion: Sabrina Soormally
