For Fans Of: Grimes, Sigrid, Let’s Eat Grandma
Singer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and genre-revivalist, Georgia is a powerhouse of talent. The London-based artist represents the era where house and RnB were in their prime and continues to champion the nostalgic sound with a modernised flare.
The jack of all trades musician takes pride in being as hands-on as possible with her releases: writing, recording and performing every instrument herself. Her devotion to the period along with her work ethic shines through as she uses only authentic analogue equipment, for example the same original 909 drum machines and sequential synths used by dance legends of the 80s and 90s.
On the subject of her sound, Georgia told Vice “my make-up, as a human, is house and techno. Frankie Knuckles, all the Trax records, but also Jeff Mills, Underground Resistance, Model 500… it was played at home constantly. It became embedded into my idea of production, beats, everything.”
Despite growing up surrounded by music, due to father Neil Barnes making up half of the electronic duo Leftfield and her childhood bedroom doubling up as their studio, music was not Georgia’s first career choice. At eight years old, she was scouted for Queens Park Rangers and went on to play for Arsenal Ladies team before having a change of heart. She eventually found her calling in performance, and went from The BRIT School to becoming a professional session drummer for the likes of Kate Tempest, JUCE and Kwes.
Encouragement from her performing peers pushed her into writing her own material. With only one single officially out in 2015, The Guardian named her One To Watch and supported her upcoming 12-track album. The self-titled release brought along comparisons to her idol Missy Elliot as she fuses old school 90s hip hop and RnB beats with contemporary vocal lines. The Line of Best Fit further praised her solo career choice, stating “with the release Georgia, the transformation into her own entity is now complete”, rating the album 8/10.
Georgia understands the concept of quality over quantity like no other. Rather than churn out more and more singles to ride her album’s success, she knew it was time to take a break and continue refining her sound. Two years later, she released the percussion-heavy track ‘Feel It’, which featured an eclectic mix of female drummers performing over the smooth RnB melody.
2018 marked the year of Georgia’s comeback as she began dropping singles towards the end of the year. September’s offering was the woozy club banger ‘Mellow’ which features fellow Londoner and dance artist Shygirl. The edgy track encapsulates the disjointed club scene and made for a great return.
Now though, she’s preparing for the release of her second album, Seeking Thrills, due 10th January. Two of its lead singles, ‘Started Out’ and ‘About Work The Dancefloor’, are her most successful songs to date, amassing 3-6,000 plays on Spotify and propelling her into everyone’s playlists.
‘Started Out’ premiered on Vice last November and was added to BBC Radio 1’s A List while Annie Mac named it her track of the week. She said of the track, “Started Out’ is about that exciting sensation that comes from the beginning of something, maybe meeting someone for the first time and getting a sensation/thrill out of it all. It’s hard to maintain though, and you don’t want to lose it. But we can be bold, take risks, be young fools, and not be able to understand what it all means but know that someone will love us for it.”
‘About Work The Dancefloor’ followed in March this year, and the disco hit was a BBC Radio regular. It premiered on Annie Mac’s show as her Hottest Record In The World and was named Clara Amfo and Nick Grimshaw’s respective Track of The Week. Following suit, her most recent release, ‘Never Let You Go’, is also getting its fair share of BBC Radio spins. Put out on 19th September, the fast-paced synth track was shared by the likes of NME, The Fader, and The Line of Best Fit, all highlight the great hype for Seeking Thrills.
If you love big pop beats and rich, bubbling melodies, then Georgia is the one for you.
Website – georgiauk.com
Facebook – /GeorgiaUK
Twitter – @_georgiauk