Hello, I hope you've been enjoying listening to Happy Place, the album. I've got one more artist to share with you today. It's the brilliant, beautiful voice of Amala. Her song, Bold, is one of my favorites. And you'll be hearing a lot about her in the months to come. I promise you that in this chat we talk about finding that voice, how this year has helped her get comfortable with change and writing love songs that don't quite help get the guy ready.

Let's do it. First of all, I have to just say a huge thank you for giving us your beautiful song bowed to feature on the Happy Place album, I've probably listened to it now about 90 times.

Gorgeous, gorgeous song. So a little bit of backstory for the listeners. So so all mutual friend Jamal was like, he's always tipping me off about things he thinks I'm going to love because we're both obsessive music. And he sent me a link to one of your videos. And also I. Oh, my God, who is this? I need to know everything about this woman.

And that was the star of my love affair with your voice. So I'm I'm so chuffed. Before we get into the chat, let's just hear a little bit of bolters, OK?

I've been over thinking you're always on my mind, memorizing what I'm going to say.

My words on the line tend to lie deep in this condition. I've put in the time and anxiously awaiting your reply instant, I can say.

That you've saved me because, oh, come on, you've made me.

Oh, I love it so much. Oh, it's nice hearing it again.

It's just dreamy.

I was when I was listening to a lot of the the Masters for the album, I would just put my headphones on and walk Iraq and hearing that when you're just out in the sun saying, oh my God, oh, so beautiful.

Well, you are. That's all. Oh, my God. Whatever you just channeled into that, tell us about it. Like, what is what did you want to get across in that song? What is the what was the motivation for you to to get that out of you?

Yeah, I think it started it started at the beginning of the year because I remember it started off with the baseline bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom.

And I think I was just trying to, like, challenge myself to write about love because I don't normally do it really that much, but also trying to challenge myself by reducing the amount of like chords I could play and like rhythms that I could work with. I just wanted to like scale it back so that, like, the vocal in the melody was just grabbing you at each point. And from January, obviously, we had the whole pandemic here.

And I think I found the value of people and the importance of just having people around you that you love. It just became really overwhelming and I wanted to get that like emotion and that feeling into the song, and I'm really proud of it because it is just like that little time capsule of what happened in twenty twenty.

Yeah. And you've captured such a special part of it, because I think for all of us, no matter what this year has been like, one of the fundamentals, we really appreciate each other and the people that we love.

Yeah. It's just so important.

I think we've all gone. I don't have time for the people that are not valuing me or I'm just there's a discord there. And the people that we love, we've just thrown everything out. And you've you've so captured that beauty in your song. Do you find it easy to translate what you're feeling and experiencing into song? Is just that just naturally free for you? I'm so fascinated with how musicians work in this way. You know what?

It's been a really recent thing because like before this year, I found it very hard to, like, be hyper emotional and then write about it really close to the event. So I had to take like six months or eight months and sort of be distant from it in order to write about it in a way that other people can resonate.

But this year, I think it's just been so like so intense and emotional and and everything is just like us at one point.

I've learnt definitely to like to be able to just say what I mean and put into put into songs. Yeah, definitely. I think Bould was like the first song. I was like I've actually just said, like everything that I want to say and yeah, it's still going. So that's good for me.

That must be the best feeling ever because to to know that you've like you said, you create this little time capsule of that feeling and music does release something in you, you know, for someone like me who was not musical in the slightest. But you hear so when it unlocks a part of you that you'd suppressed or that you didn't even know, was there like for you, creating that sort of all must feel exquisite.

It's really strange. It's really strange. Like having having a feeling whether that's like loving somebody on or I guess in this case, it's loving somebody and then wanting them to to understand, like your thought processes and wanting them to to to understand that you're, like thinking about them all the time, but also pacing back and forth. And and whenever you leave the house and you see something and it reminds you of them and it pulls you back to this like central thread of like just what it means to be like young and and in love and human.

And I think that's a really, really cool thing that I'm learning to learn it, learning to do better, I think.

And you find it easy to write about. I guess pain would sum it up rather than joy or things that are happy, because it seems like so much of music, even the stuff that sounds really upbeat, happy, can be rooted in such deep pain because people feel so strongly, which is easier for you to write about, will be inspired by.

Definitely. I think it's it's easier to write about sadness just because it's so much more overwhelming. You know, it like takes over every inch of you and you and, you know, when it's there. Whereas I think when you're happy and joyful, it just feels like. Like what life should be like, it just feels like normal. I think sometimes when you're sad, it's this whole.

It's like this whole, like, wave that impacts you and then your family and your friends, and I think because it's so, so abrupt, it's easier to write about that because it feels distinct, it feels different.

But your happiness is is harder. But I am learning actually to write like more fast tempo songs because I don't I don't normally do that. So I think I'm I'm sort of getting into the flow of being able to, like, express joy a bit.

But it's fun, isn't it, when we're like you say, when we're feeling happy, we think that this is normal. So that perhaps is like quite connective.

We think, oh, now I'm like everybody else.

We're all happy when when we're sad, we really feel alienated and like we're alone.

But actually, we're probably more connected to everybody else than ever because so many people are out there feeling sorrow, pain, angst or whatever. But for some reason, it feels really private, insular and cut off from everyone.

And perhaps artists do then find that easier to channel because they're searching for connection so desperately.

No, no, definitely, it's really lonely, it's really hard, like I mean, the song is happy, but originally it started out because I like this guy. I was talking to this guy and I asked him out and he said, no, oh, I've had that happen.

Hi. Yeah, he's like this.

So I was like, well, I'm just like started writing this love song and I don't know, I'm going to do about now. But it is funny, like in human interactions are funny and and just learning about it and figuring out how to channel that into a little thing is cool.

Yeah, well you are insanely good at it. How how have you dealt with this year?

Because, you know, when I first started listening to your music and looking into your style and what you're about after Jamal, let me off about you.

I was like, wow, this woman is going to be huge. You know, your hotly tipped by all these people and there's hype around you.

And then brilliant, a global pandemic, all all new young musicians who were about to have the greatest year of their career and their and their music sort of being elevated to the next level and everything sort of on standstill.

How have you dealt with that?

Um, I think I realized really quickly that whatever was happening was more important than what I had planned for the year. I mean, it was really scary. Nobody knew what was happening. It was really unstable. Everybody was buying toilet roll.

Yes. All of a toilet roll. Like, we had no idea.

And I was just like, you know what? I had some cool things planned this year. But right now, this is this is what we have to deal with. And that that's OK. That's fine. As long as I've got, you know, the people that I love around me. But I think for me, it's really important just to remember what I do have. I've had opportunity to be on the Happy Place album and I've written some amazing songs.

And I had the the Ivan Avello nomination as well. Like so some incredible things have happened, even though I've not been able to leave London, you know. So I think it's just important to hone in on those things. And I'm becoming like such a better songwriter, just having this time to to go over and practice. And I've I've actually never had this much time to make music in my life. I've always been doing other things.

So just being able to like, remember the you know, things happen for a reason, but it's about how you use how you're using the time, whether that's to relax or to spend time with your family or to write songs or whatever. Just appreciate it, I think.

Well, I am so excited to see what you come out with next. I mean, you've got like a super here. I, I'm obsessed with voice and I, I love what you do and your your style is just all impeccable. So I'm waiting there eagerly, like more, more new songs.

Well, I didn't get so much for being part of this album. It's so it's an honor to have you on and yeah. You just good luck with everything in the future. I know that you need it. Thank you.

That I went to. Oh, thank you so much again to Amala and I mean, I can't wait to hear what you come up with next. In the meantime, though, please, everybody, enjoy. This track is so beautiful and it's exclusively for Happy Place, the album. You can stream the full long play right now wherever you get your music, including, unbelievably, a collaboration with Dame Helen Mirren. Plus tracks from Larry Pink, the human Emily Sun, some Fender and Ludovico in Aldy.

Do it now and check in next Monday for another happy place. I'll see you then.

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