DIVA caught up with the British Caribbean artist ahead of their new EP Home Is Where You Make It
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY JOSEPH MURPHY
British Caribbean artist Adannay is opening an exciting new chapter with their new EP Home Is Where You Make It. Coming out on 20 June, this new EP blends jazz, gospel, R&B, Afropop, and Caribbean folk, exploring themes of sexuality, identity, heritage, and politics. Influenced by the smooth sounds of Luther Vandross, Kojey Radical, and NAO, Adannay has carved out a unique space in the music scene.
Following her debut single Her Favourite Song in 2017, she won the Cross The Tracks’ New Talent competition, performed at major festivals like Cheltenham Jazz and 110 Above, and received support from BBC Introducing. Her recent releases have garnered acclaim from EARMILK, Reprezent Radio, and BBC Introducing The South, and led to a sold-out show at Brixton House Theatre. With a career marked by innovation and authenticity, Adannay continues to break barriers and captivate audiences.
We caught up with this exciting artist to find out more about this new EP.
Your new EP Home Is Where You Make It provides powerful conversations about society, identity, and queerness. What inspired this new EP?
It’s hard to know where to start! This project was inspired by my own questioning of what “home” really is to me. As a Black-British-Caribbean-queer person in the UK, the different parts of who I am can feel kinda contradictory, or as if I’m supposed to choose one of them at a time. So with all of the songs, I’m exploring those parts and how they fit together – and what it means to belong. The EP is all about how our world makes us question who, where and what home really is.
Tracks like Finally and Call It Love delve into your own relationships. Could you tell us a bit about what it’s like to write about your own queerness for the first time?
It feels so good to be writing songs openly and authentically, but actually, I almost never write about my own romantic relationships – not directly anyway. Both these songs draw on my own experiences, but I find it exciting to take ideas or experiences from other people and think about how I’d tell that story. For example, my song Finally tells the story of a lesbian couple who got married and the next day flew to a friend’s wedding in Kenya – where it’s illegal to be gay. They had to pretend to be nothing more than friends – which I just found so interesting and complex. Finally is a sexy slowjam about the moment they’re finally alone and finally able to be themselves.
I don’t think I’d be able to write songs like these without the experiences I’ve gone through, many of them are so beautiful and enriching. I’m finally able to stand proudly in my queerness.
The track Love Her Anyway is a very special song on the EP. What inspired that track?
Love Her Anyway narrates the complicated, painful, nuanced and joyful aspects of my own coming-out story. It’s inspired by what it feels like to come out to someone you’re close to when you know they aren’t going to accept it. I wanted the song to evoke the fear and anxiety of that moment but also the defiance, freedom and self-respect that comes with you standing in your own truth.
The wider context of the song is about the intersections of queerness and Blackness – particularly for those with a Caribbean background. The song kind of sonically and lyrically shows the contrast and nuance of those identities and how all things don’t always sit together very well.
What has the process of recording and producing this EP been like?
It’s been such an exciting and playful time for me as an artist – finding ways to merge so many genres, sonic ideas and storylines together under the umbrella of Home Is Where You Make It. This is the first project that I have written and also produced myself so it’s been great to take that creative control.
My process is really fluid. Often I will start with a story or narrative and then build it up into a poem or an idea for a lyric. At the same time, I’m usually humming or clapping ideas for the vibe I want to create, gradually building out what that sonic world feels like before I jump onto the computer to start producing and bring it to life.
I work really closely with my label’s managing director Elliot Wenman who is an amazing musician and producer too. I’ve also worked with some incredible session musicians and external producers on this project, such as Poppy Daniels and Komodo Horns, Rapper DEACON, producers Pastel and DoomCannon and many many others. Being able to work with so many musicians really made this project feel like it was a village effort.
How did it feel to be so vulnerable with some of the tracks on this album? Why was that so important for you?
I feel like we live in a time of uncertainty. A time when so many people can’t just be who they are in terms of their sexuality, heritage, their politics. So being vulnerable on this project feels like an act of resistance – a reminder that we should all be allowed to express and feel who we are. It feels like we all need to lead with empathy and understanding. In my eyes, we can’t understand, change and then heal the world if we don’t understand change and heal ourselves.
Growing up, who were some of your influences musically?
There were so many amazing artists that I grew up listening to thanks to my parents. They love music, and we’d often have people singing together in my house. I would listen to everything from pop to jungle, but gospel, soul, RnB, funk and Caribbean folk are foundational to how I understand music today.
I think some major influences were Luther Vandross (he is my all-time favourite vocalist and his songwriting also is out of this world), The Isley Brothers and Jill Scott to name a few. When I was a kid I joined a gospel choir which was really the core of how I started to understand harmony in songwriting. I’m also a pop girlie at heart so shout out to noughties pop music too.
What do you hope that listeners will take away from Home Is Where You Make It?
First and foremost I hope this EP is fun, exciting and refreshing to listen to. I hope it brings people joy. I really hope what people take away is the ability to be more empathetic to all the perspectives I explore on the record and feel empowered to take action to change our world for the better. I also hope that anyone who can relate to the stories I tell feels held and seen and listened to because we all deserve to feel like we belong, like our voices are valid – and to find home.
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