How many artists can say they’ve won a Grammy, a Brit award and been nominated for the Mercury prize before releasing their debut album? Kamille can. The 35-year-old British singer-songwriter, otherwise known as Camille Angelina Purcell, is a giant when it comes to penning pop hits. She has written for Little Mix (she was once dubbed their “fifth member”) as well as Dua Lipa, Mabel, Clean Bandit and Sia. But in recent years, Kamille has been carving out her own path. In 2017 she released her first single, Body (featuring Avelino), a punchy pop ballad with stirring vocals.
Kamille grew up singing and writing poetry and attended Sylvia Young theatre school part-time. She did a degree in economics and later worked as a stockbroker, but eventually embraced music again, telling the Independent in 2022: “I told my managers quite early on that I wanted to release music, but they kind of all felt like I wasn’t ready… there weren’t many Black women in this country making music in the forefront.”
Despite the knockbacks, Kamille is intent on creating vivacious soul, disco and funk-pop soundscapes with a DIY spirit. She produced her debut album, K1, while pregnant with her first child. It’s a joyful, uptempo collection of tracks that complements her spirited vocals: Options is a synth-filled funk song, while All My Love is reminiscent of an 80s ballad. Kamille makes pop with soul.
K1 is released on 8 September. Kamille plays Omeara, London, on 12 October
