QSC Aspiring Interview: Talia Rae discusses new EP ‘Shadows’

East London singer-songwriter Talia Rae recently spoke to Headliner about all things music, including her brand new EP Shadows – a deeply personal record with each track carrying its own story and message. Here she also reflects on her collaboration with some big names in the production world, her musical background and influences, as well as her recent performance supporting the one and only Stevie Nicks at BST Hyde Park…

Where are you calling from today, and how is this week treating you so far?

It’s been sweet, but mad busy! I’m calling from my dad's flat at the moment in St John's Wood. This week’s been good; I'm shooting a music video tomorrow which is exciting, and then just planning out some releases and getting in the studio to record some stuff.

You released your EP Shadows last week. How has it been received from your perspective?

I get pretty overwhelmed when people send me messages online and in person; sometimes it feels like they're not speaking about me! It's really weird, but people have been receiving it really well. I think people really like it from what I’ve seen on social media and stuff, but you never know these things until you play a show, and I haven't played a show in the past week.

Can you give us the lowdown on the new EP?

Firstly it feels so liberating, almost letting it go and realising it's not mine anymore; like I wrote it as mine, and now people can interpret it how they want. When I wrote the title track Shadows in January 2023, I knew I wanted to build my whole EP around this concept of your own shadow following you. It's basically about the internal voice in your head – or that’s a constant in my head at least – and all the thoughts of doubt and fear following you, even though you know that you need to let it go.

If people listen to the song, they’ll probably think it's a love song (like a lot of my songs), because it sounds like you need to let somebody go. While it can be interpreted in that way, I wrote it as this internal struggle, and a lot of it was to do with how I viewed myself, my relationship with my body, and that whole kind of world. It feels weird me speaking about it, trying to be as vulnerable as possible, because I usually just write songs that are incredibly personal, put them out and then don't think about if people will know what they're about - even though they’ll probably find out.

You worked with Mike Spencer and Charlie Andrew on the EP, who between them have worked with some huge names in the music world. How did that collaboration come about?

I started working with Mike a few years ago, and I actually co-wrote Rocket Woman and Not A Heartbreak – two of the tracks on the EP – with his wife Liz. They found me on Instagram when I was like 17 and wanted to work together, which was so cool. The whole thing was a great experience, and working with both Mike and Charlie was very different because they’re the complete opposite.

I was a massive, massive fan of Wolf Alice's Blue Weekend album, and Charlie produced the vocals on that. My manager knew Wolf Alice's manager, so that's how that kind of came about. I actually ended up writing a song with Charlie six months before we started recording, which I'm so excited to put out one day, but it's not right for a project at the moment. So I really wanted Charlie to produce some tracks on the EP as well. I recorded real strings with both Charlie and Mike; my band came in and it was so much fun. I like working with people who are quite different, because then it brings out a different side of me.

Tell us a bit about your musical background.

I’ve always sang since I was about three years old. I went to Saturday school and did the whole drama, dancing and singing thing. I wanted to be an actress for years, so I went to theatre school when I was 10 up until 16. But when I started writing songs around the age of 12, I knew I wanted to be a songwriter and create this artist world. I'm such a big film nerd, and I'd love to direct films at some point in my life. I find all of that stuff really interesting, and that's why I love building cinematic music videos in the visual world as well.

Growing up I was a massive fan of Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers, Bruno Mars - a lot of pop stuff. But my dad's a big ‘90s rock fan, so I was also brought up on REM, Sting, Oasis, Goo Goo Dolls, Razorlight, Coldplay etc. So I suppose rock pop was my biggest influence, and then I found my way to what I listen to now.

What does your typical songwriting process look like?

I play the piano, and I either start with chords and then come up with a melody, and then lyrics are always last. I’m a bit of a conceptualist, so I like thinking about concepts before I even start writing. I get so inspired by listening to other artists and their music, but there isn't one set way that I work. It's just whatever I feel in that moment.

You've recently performed at Latitude, Great Escape and BST Hyde Park supporting Stevie Nicks. Can you tell us more about that?

It was crazy! I think Stevie wanted an all female line up, which is so cool, and the other artists who were playing were just fucking amazing. I think my music was sent to her and her team to see if she liked it or not, and it went from there. When I found out, honestly, I thought surely this can’t be real. Even now I’m sitting here thinking, did that actually happen? Playing live is my favourite thing ever; I’ve got a couple of cool gigs coming up and I can’t wait to get out on tour soon. Hopefully that will be in the near future.

What does the phrase ‘Play Out Loud’ mean to you?

I feel like 'Play Out Loud' is what it means to be comfortable in yourself and sharing your art with other people. I initially thought about playing live and playing songs out loud and being confident with sharing what you’ve got, but I think it probably goes even further than that, to the record and your music videos and everything else; just sharing and not being afraid of sharing who you are and what you want to be.

What’s in the pipeline for you?

I'm in the studio all the time and I've got some songs coming out at the end of this year; I'm so excited about the direction that I'm going in. I've got a feature coming out really quite soon, which I can’t reveal yet, but I was brought up listening to this person so honestly it’s kind of mad. So more songs and hopefully some more shows; this autumn should be really, really cool. I'm happy, I can't complain, and I feel blessed!