NOIRE: “I want people to see a little bit of themselves in everything I make”
‘Welcome to The Space Station’- Bedroom Pop artist NOIRE on her experiences as a woman in music, creative inspirations, and upcoming EP ‘ruin’
By Robyn Hart | 05th May 2024
Looking for ethereal other worldly sounds? Well look no further. On International Women’s Day 2024, NOIRE spoke [...] about her musical ventures and what it’s like to be a woman in the industry. Before the interview we attended a Women’s Day talk at Leeds Conservatoire covering the lived experience of women in the music industry. It was
fascinating to experience a fragment of her everyday given NOIRE is currently studying music at the Conservatoire.
Born and raised in The Midlands of the UK, NOIRE started song writing at the tender age of 6. Her first song she wrote ‘Happy People’, I was treated to a performance of this in her bedroom. After the song NOIRE breaks down in hysterical laughter confirming that she’s “written a lot of songs since [she] was six”. Within her safe haven of a bedroom, there is an aura of tranquillity. The smell of incense wafts between aromatic candles and fairy lights. There’re various reminders of NOIRE’s love for plants throughout the room, with a large leaf-shaped blanket and a séance like-circle of potted plants on a table. The room has a calming sense of spirituality with many crystals. When I arrived, she kindly made me a mug of herbal tea as we started to discuss her artistry and being a woman in music.
How do you feel that being a woman in music affects how you approach your work as an artist?
“Not to kind of, what’s the phrase?... Not [wanting] to generalise the experience of being a woman, I find that we are a lot more in touch with our emotions. I find myself talking in my creative interpretations about experiences with my own emotions and common emotions that are relatable to being a woman and going about life with all of these pent-up feelings. It’s so difficult to describe- but I really like to portray [it] with my art and my music.”
That’s interesting, and quite profound. It’s interesting how something that seems so obvious can still be so in depth and part of you as an artist.
“Absolutely, I mean I’m struggling with mental health and everything as well, going to a university and having so many changes happening in your body. There’s just so much to experience as a woman that’s impossible to describe and sometimes really difficult to connect with other people over.”
Do you find that your artistry is a way for you to connect with other women?
“Absolutely, I find a lot of women approaching me about how they really connect with my music. And honest to God- it’s not just women of course- but it makes me happier than anything just knowing that I can always be someone who’s reaching out to other people as a source of relatability and connection. It’s such an honour to be doing the kind of work I am doing.”
If you had to summarise, what does International Women's Day mean to you as an emerging artist?
“To me it means, like I’ve been saying, connection with the world around us as a woman and kind of remembering how hard we’ve fought as women. How many experiences we’ve gone
through and still go through every single day, the research that’s still being done on what it means to be a woman and how there’s so many areas that are still being researched. We don’t know much [individually] about women’s anatomy. We don’t know as much as we definitely could know. It’s like a memory of everything we’ve fought for and how we’ve reached such an incredible point in feminism.”
The cover of NOIRE’s upcoming EP ‘ruin’
NOIRE further gave some insight on her upcoming EP. Unlike her 2023 single ‘iced coffee’- which has reached almost 10,000 streams at time of writing - NOIRE’s blossoming EP ‘ruin’ is not in line with the coffee theme which she states is being “saved for a later date”. She explains that ‘ruin’ will be centered around “emotional connections and in-depth difficult feelings” from difficult times of her life and beyond. One of the songs on the EP, ‘Slowly’, NOIRE describes as lyrically being in the works for some time. She writes lyrics usually before finding a melody to fit. There remains to be a space theme as with most of NOIRE’s music and image. On being asked about her image and fashion sense, she proceeds to explain the tattoos adorning her forearms. “I want an armful of constellations… a glimmet of the night sky”. She goes on to discuss how she sometimes creates new words as lyrics in her songs “I’m a little bit Shakespearean… if I can’t think of a word, I’ll just make it up!”.
‘ruin’ is set to release on the 25th May 2024.
Thank you to the incredible and talented Robyn Louise Hart (discoverable via @robynhartguitar on Instagram) for inviting me to speak at this interview!
I wanted to share this interview post, despite my EP already having been released (which, by the way, if you haven't listened yet, you absolutely should!), to showcase some of my personal attributes and musical background. If you've been keeping up to date with my blogs thus far (thank you!) and don't know me already, I thought this would be a great opportunity to show you more of who I am!
The interview was conducted around International Women's Day, hence the theme being centered around experiences with womanhood. I hope you enjoy!
See you later, space rangers.
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