Being exhausted was really worth it
Wearing a Calvin Klein crop top and matching cycling shorts with a cardigan slung over the top, Mabel laughs at the suggestion that style is important to her.
I’ve just asked her how much her appearance means to her as a music artist, because she’s clearly got a defined image - just a brief glance over her Instagram feed shows she favours a 90s-inspired look of colourful tracksuits with a feminine glam edge while rocking what appears to be a different hairstyle every day.
Almost make-up free yet enviably glowing, she jokes: “I mean, looking down at my very, very raggedy outfit right now, I’m like, errrr!?”
“You know what, though, it is important to me,” she adds, confirming that she loves the idea of boyish sexiness and is inspired by the likes of 90s urban icons Aaliyah and TLC.
She laughs and smiles genuinely, talking at an excitable speed as we sit in Peckham Levels, a former multistorey car park in south-east London that was converted into an event space. The uber-trendy but casually cool venue seems the ideal setting for a chat with one of this country’s hottest rising young stars.
The 23-year-old singer-songwriter
has made waves in the music industry since dropping her debut single Know Me Better in 2015, before bursting onto the mainstream with breakout hit Finders Keepers in 2017.
The R&B and pop artist with a voice like honey - the daughter of Swedish singer Neneh Cherry and British record producer Cameron McVey (her full name is Mabel McVey) - has seen her star rise since the release of her debut EP Bedroom and mixtape Ivy To Roses in 2017.
She’s already got a handful of hit singles and collaborations under her belt, she has nearly 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and earlier this year she bagged a Brit nomination for British Breakthrough Act.
But her tropical houseinspired single Don’t Call Me Up, released earlier this year, is perhaps her biggest triumph yet.
The catchy track debuted at number 11 before climbing to number three, making it her highest-charting song to date. It was recently certified by the Official Charts Company as the sixth biggest-selling single of 2019 so far, and the biggest single by a British female artist.
We’re speaking the day after she heard the good news and she’s still stunned about it, wide-eyed and animated.
She reveals she was exhausted and in the middle of a busy work day when her manager showed it to her.
“I was like, that’s how I’m getting through today because that’s an incredible achievement and I’m going to think about that any time I feel really tired,” she explains.
“It’s the best thing, because then you know all of these things that are making me tired are paying off.” Following years of hard work, growing success and tiring schedules, Mabel is ready to unleash her long-awaited debut album on the world, High Expectations.
“It’s been a two-year process making this record I’ve really put everything into it,” she says.
“Some of the songs are old to me now and I’ve been performing them live for a while, but I can’t wait for people to sing them back to me. It is nerve-racking and quite emotional because I’m really attached to it; it’s been my identity in many ways for the last few years. It’s been my purpose.”
It’s been a two year process making this record - I’ve put a lot into it