Pop icon Pixie Lott returns with new album after a decade away

Pop icon Pixie Lott returns with new album after a decade away

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“I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since my last album, but I’m so excited to be back doing what I love the most,” beams Pixie Lott. “I’m taking risks this time. Previously, I’ve sung other people’s songs and gone in the direction others have envisioned for me but nobody really ever pushed me to try the things I wanted. Maybe, I even thought I wasn’t worthy of doing that. It’s scary but I’m going with my heart now – I want to show other sides of myself.”

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The future Pixie envisioned for herself didn’t revolve around dance bangers, but rather songs she had privately been working on as a passion project with acclaimed producers and songwriters Jeeve (Bruno Mars, Britney Spears) and Dave Gibson (James Arthur, Louis Tomlinson). Songs she had co-written and co-produced at Jeeve’s studio in California and even self-funded for five years, before signing to Tag8/BMG last year. 

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Songs that transcended her pop roots to explore band-led sounds and arrangements. Taking inspiration from 70s bands and rootsy americana influences. Songs that have now come to make up her excellent fourth album, Encino. It isn’t just a conscious decoupling from dance-orientated pop, it’s the start of a new era for Pixie as an artist in control for the first time.

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Pixie eases us in by explaining how this new album came to fruition.

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“When I started this album I was doing it all on my own, I took the risk, I really wanted to do it. I was taking trips out to Encino and then when lockdown happened, I had to find a way to keep doing it. I got a laptop and a microphone and an app that sounds like I was in a vocal booth, but I was just in my bedroom. So, I was just doing it when I could, a bit in the mornings and mostly in the evenings. Then when everything opened up again, I could go back to Encino to finish it off.”

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I had to ask Pixie about how long the album took to produce and what it means to her to finally have something completely of her own put out into the world?

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“We’ve spent five years writing this album. I really wanted it to be a full body of work, like taking the time and it was all about being organic, authentic, live musicians and really taking the time on every lyric. Rather than just dropping singles here, there and everywhere, I wanted it to be very considered. That was what the whole project was about and why it took so long.”

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What was it like recording over in America?

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“I mean the reason why the album is called Encino is because we recorded the whole thing in Encino in California. It was made with a really small team of people, of just two guys Dave and Jeeve, who are brilliant. We did the whole album together over five years, so I really got to build up that relationship where you can write about anything and that’s why it feels like the most authentic album journey that I've ever been on. Whereas, my previous albums, I started out so young and was writing with different people every single day and you don't really get the chance to build up the rapport, where you can talk about anything or share any ideas. I was also kind of told what direction to go down, whereas this time I got to write whatever I wanted to with people who know me really well, it was really freeing, I loved it!”

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I know you just touched on the process of making the album but could you tell me a bit more about the songs individually, like the inspiration and the writing process?

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“I really wanted it to be a true depiction of what I've learnt over the past five years and what I’ve been through. I’ve learnt loads and hopefully grown loads in that time and definitely since I put out my first record when I was 15. All of that stuff features on the album. I talk about meditation, mental health, family, nostalgia, a lot of stuff that means a lot to me. 

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“Sometimes it would just be a poem that I've written and then we would make the melody afterwards or start with just the guitar and then the words would come later.”

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Any particular songs you're excited to perform?

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“I'm attached to them all, but I really like Blockbuster Videos, because it's very nostalgic and it's all about growing up and the different places I've lived. So, whenever I sing it my brain goes back to that time and it's a really happy feeling, I absolutely love singing that one. 

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Happy goes down the best at shows and when I was doing meditation it helped me realise the best things in life and the most simple little things that can make you feel really grateful and that's where that song came out of.”

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Also a little birdy told me you’ve dipped your toe into acting recently? How’s that going?

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“I've actually grown up doing acting since I was kid, but when certain projects come in that feel great… I'll go for it. I did a play for a year that really helped me access my emotions, which of course helped with the album too. I've also done an ITV drama and a Christmas film that comes out next year and I’ve got another project happening in November.”

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Pixie Lott’s album Encino, is out now - go give it a listen.

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www.linktr.ee/pixielott 

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