Meet pop’s new It girl –
straight outta EssexANNE-MARIE
“I should’ve known a cheat stays a cheater,”
croons Anne-Marie Nicholson in her
hit single “Alarm”. When she sings about
finding lipstick on her boyfriend’s collar
and smelling another woman on him,
she’s speaking from experience. “I make
music about stuff that I’ve been through,”
she says of her crappy exes. “If my songs
have helped a few people through bad
relationships, I’m happy.”
If YouTube views are any indication,
Anne-Marie has mended roughly 1.7 billion
broken hearts. The British hit-maker
collaborated with Clean Bandit for last
year’s banger “Rockabye”. She also
worked with Australian rapper Illy on
“Catch 22”, and with Ed Sheeran on the
acoustic duet “Ciao Adios”. The latter is
a single off her debut album Speak Your
Mind, which she describes as “very
personal”. For her, songwriting is a form
of therapy. “Ever since I started writing,
I’ve become a much calmer person,” says
the 27-year-old. That must be reassuring
to the aforementioned cheating exes,
because the singer also happens to be
a triple world champion in karate.
Despite being last year’s biggest-
selling debut female artist in the UK,
Anne-Marie hasn’t let power or fame go
to her head. Proof? She only has two things
on her backstage rider: a toaster and peanut
butter. “It’s not very diva-ish,” she laughs.LISTEN UP
Anne-Marie’s
debut album
Speak Your Mind
is out now.GIRL OF THE MOMENTEDITED BY ALLEY PASCOE