There’s something indelibly rich about 25-year-old south Londoner Mysie’s vocals. Since the singer-songwriter’s emergence in 2019 with her stunning track Rocking Chair, she has consistently released songs in which that striking voice has taken centre stage over atmospheric blends of everything from soaring pop and warm gospel to sculpted classical, deft jazz and intricate Afropop (her grandfather Israel Magembe is credited with bringing Congolese jazz to Uganda with his band Kampala City Six). It all melds to form a sound that is slow-burning and quietly left-field.
Mysie initially released music under her real name, Lizbet Sempa, but has said in interviews that she quickly felt pigeonholed and exhausted by industry expectations of the kind of music that black women might make. And so the project was reborn with a new moniker – a nod to her middle name, Margaery.
Last year, Mysie won the inaugural Ivor Novello Rising Star award. Fraser T Smith, the producer best known for his work with Adele, Stormzy and Dave, has become a mentor of sorts, and has exec-produced Mysie’s second EP, Undertones. A polished set of songs about love and possibilities that marries her glossy vocals with percussion and sweet, clipped guitars, it builds on an already impressively assured back catalogue.
Undertones is out now on 70Hz Recordings
