I’m never going to think I’m the best thing ever... I’m still going to put as much effort into what I do
MARION MCMULLEN FINDS OUT HOW CELESTE WORKED DURING LOCKDOWN TO BRING OUT HER IDEAL DEBUT ALBUM
SOUL singer Celeste began last year being showered with awards and on a fast-track to music success. The British-jamaican performer’s prodigious talents saw her winning both BBC Sound of 2020 and the BRITS Rising Star award, but future plans immediately changed with the start of lockdown.
The 26-year-old did her best to make the most of the enforced free time to both recharge her batteries and make the best album she could.
“It was such an up and down year, where even amongst all that was going on, I had some of the happiest and most spontaneous times I have had in a long time,” she says.
“Even though we had all these new rules and constraints, I found the fact I didn’t have a diary that was set out for the rest of the year and beyond quite liberating.
“Just simple things like riding my bike around or listening to music felt freeing in a way they wouldn’t have otherwise.”
Celeste has certainly been in demand. She worked with Golden Globenominated composer Daniel Pemberton on Hear My Voice, the focus track for Aaron Sorkin’s film The Trial of The Chicago 7, and became the first artist to write and record an original song for John Lewis’ Christmas advert campaign, with A Little Love. Pixar Studios also called her in to lend her vocals to the final track on the film Soul.
Now she has finally released her hugely anticipated debut album, Not Your Muse. She says: “I was supposed to finish the album in March 2020, but everything shut down. I had written most of it, so all I needed to do was go in with my producer and band to go over the last few bits, meaning there wasn’t much I could do by myself but wait.
“What happened though, is I started looking at ideas I hadn’t finished from before starting work on the album and it became apparent they were the missing ingredients that I needed for the album to feel right.”
She says: “I knew from the beginning to follow my instincts to try and have a sound that I felt an affinity with, which comes from a jazz and soul world.
“I didn’t want it to sound too poppy, or similar to whatever the popular sound was at the moment, as that always changes.”
Celeste has drawn on aspects and experiences of her whole life so far to bring it to life. “Some of the songs I’m writing from the perspective of how I felt as a teenager, but through the lens of who I am now all these years later, in that I have been able to process it all. It’s definitely allencompassing of all those different feelings that I have had over the years but reflecting on them at an older age.”
Those BRIT and BBC accolades have undoubtedly been a huge boost to her career and confidence, but she’s careful not to get too carried away, either by the praise or the pressure these things can bring.
“I’m still figuring out what effect those things have had on me, to be honest. Obviously, you are happy and proud to have received them, but in the first few weeks I didn’t really let it phase me.
“People keep telling you that you are destined for great things, but that’s not something I’ve ever focused on or even thought about, really. It seeps in though and I’ve definitely put that pressure on myself a little bit. I’m never going to think I’m the best thing ever or anything like that and I’m still going to put as much effort into what I do, but I became very aware of that expectation that I had to live up to.”
There’s now talk her track The Trial of The Chicago 7 could be in line for a Best Original Song nomination at the Oscars.
Celeste says: “To me, it’s really surreal that people are even speculating that it’s a possibility.
“It just came about during lockdown, when Daniel Pemberton asked me if I wanted to pull something together with him for the soundtrack that he was working on. A lot of it was me writing lyrics or recording stuff in my bedroom and sending them to him over the period of a few months, so none of it felt that real.
“Also, at the time, I didn’t really know what it was specifically for.
“Apparently, Aaron Sorkin wanted to use a Beatles song over the end credits, but Daniel, while working on the rest of the score, secretly started working on an original song for it.
“Eventually, the director got to the final edit and realised Here Comes The Sun didn’t work and he didn’t know what to do, which is when Daniel revealed what we had been working on.”
Meanwhile, Celeste plans to keep making the music she loves. “It’s hard to see what the future will look like these days, but I do know that I am excited to just keep on making music and for the right reasons.
“I really want to play shows as well. That’s something I’ve really missed, so hopefully people around the world will take to this album and eventually, when everything opens up again, I can go to those places and see their faces.
“Even if it’s just shows in small pockets around the world, that would be more than enough for me. That’s what I’m craving more than anything else.”
■ Not Your Muse (left) is out now on Polydor Records. Celeste will also be touring in spring 2022. Go to celesteofficial.com