FEATURE:
Spotlight
Leah Cleaver
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ON 3rd October…
Leah Cleaver released her remarkable E.P., Pushing Up Flowers. It is the latest offering from one of our most talented and promising young artists. I want to get to some interviews with her. I am starting out with DIY and their interview from October of last year. They spoke with someone who was an “Intoxicating, chameleonic pop built on community and shared confidence”. If you are new to Leah Cleaver then go and follow her:
“East London multi-hyphenate and purveyor of intoxicating, chameleonic pop. Having cut her teeth as a member of neo-soul group ZEBEDE, Leah’s now striking out solo with her recently released debut EP ‘Pushing Up Flowers’ - a vibrant six-track project that sees her flit between bouncing, funk-flecked grooves (‘Get You Home’), kicked-back, chorus-backed rap (‘Have You Ever’) and looping electronic beats (‘I Go (Outta My Mind)’). To celebrate the project’s arrival, Leah tells us more about her disparate musical influences, the significance of sisterhood, and how she found confidence through personal crisis.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Okay, so I must have been seven or eight and I went to go and see McFly with my bestie Callum and his mum - that night I realised I was more of a Busted fan. It was very sad… but still a very fun time.
Your music pulls from a diverse range of influences, from Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Little Simz. Are these artists you listened to growing up, or discovered through family/friends? Tell us more about what shaped your sound.
I think I totally absorbed the music around me because it was always on in the house. My aunt played a lot of The Rat Pack tunes and was a huge Dean Martin fan, so I grew up watching movies like High Society with Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra, and Singing In The Rain. And I remember so clearly watching Dirty Dancing and hearing Otis Redding’s ‘Love Man’ for the first time - it blew my mind. So that American soul/blues/jazz influence was really heavy in the house.
But then round at my nana and grandad’s, I was singing out ‘Weila Waila’ by The Dubliners when I was only small (which is a madness because that song is pretty gruesome, but I loved it so much). I loved the raw vocals and the pain and playfulness of it all, which really
makes sense because soul music and Irish music really go hand in hand. And then my uncles played me Red Hot Chilli Peppers, ‘Demon Days’ and Arctic Monkeys, so it was all the good stuff.
I think it all made me have an affinity with unique, commanding tones in their own right, so I naturally found my way to Little Simz, Channel Tres, NAO, Jeff Buckley, David Byrne - a lot of this project is a nod to some of them.
Your upcoming EP, ‘Pushing Up Flowers’, was written after a period of sudden uncertainty, when you inexplicably lost your voice. What was this experience like, and how do you think it affected your outlook/headspace heading into this new era of music?
It was a super scary time, because your voice is so personal - it’s your identity - so it feels like the thing you love doing has let you down. Then you get more stressed about it, so it gets worse. Also, that’s how I pay my rent, so it was a lot at that time. But in hindsight, I honestly think it was my body and the universe telling me to… not just slow down, but to stop with the constant self-judgment and cut things out of my life that weren’t serving me, period. That carved out a weirdly calm but finally breathable era of me having no expectations of myself. When I started writing music again, I wanted to get out what I needed to say, and I couldn’t sing it, so I said it: I shed a lot of old baggage in these songs and self-soothed through the music (which is cheeeeese but it’s that truth cheddar!).
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one album, one book, and one film with you, what would you pick?
Album: ‘Needle Paw’, by Nai Palm. Book: Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernardine Evaristo. Film: American Gangster.
What’s your worst musical habit?
Listening to songs to DEATH immediately after making them (only if it’s good!). It’s cool, but I’m trying to practise giving it a day or two so I can listen to it with fresh ears. But I’m awful - by the time
The next interview I am getting to is from HASTE. They spotlighted her then-new single, Last Time, and the upcoming E.P. An artist inspired by the likes of Channel Tres, Little Simz, Jungle, Nina Simone, Talking Heads, Sly and the Family Stone, this is someone with such a rich and layered voice that is unlike no other in music. I think that we will hear a lot from Cleaver in the coming years:
“Growing up Leah was surrounded by the likes of Ratpakc, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, which started her love of raw, soulful sounds. “It was the first time I’d heart Otis Redding and I think that changed my life,” she explained. “I’d never heard a voice like that it was incredible. And then on the other side of my family it was all Irish rebel music, Luke Kelly and the Dubliners which I loved, I loved all the raw harmonies and stories within these cheeky, but mostly heartbreaking songs.” After feeling so deeply connected to this type of songwriting, Leah moved to London aged 18 and naturally gravitated towards jamming and writing.
A push-and-pull tension beats throughout ‘Last Time’, Leah’s tender vocals detailing a tumultuous relationship characterised by carnal desire. The track’s instrumental mirrors this cat-and-mouse story, pivoting between gentle keys, funky bass and an eruption of rattling guitars, stomping drums and rippling synths. On her debut, Leah is already highlighting herself as an artist with a mastery of various genres, which she playfully weaves together into a sound that is excitingly fresh. Leah went on to explain, “Last time is 11pm on a Thursday night and 20 minutes ago you were in your pj’s but you just got that from that person so now you’re in an uber looking 12/10 about to have a cheeky night. It’s about being spontaneous and taking ownership in your naughty side, and totally leaning into it!“
While the song takes listeners on a cohesive journey, the chorus brings the song to a whole new level of musical layers. Bringing to life a kind of chaotic energy, the lyrics and sounds become reflective and intertwining. Leah told us that this is very much reflective of the start of relationships. “You’re nervous, excited, you’re changing your outfit 1000 times, you’re scrambling to find your keys and then add the fact that you know this person isn’t exactly marriage material, but the sex is incredible, that’s a whole other dilemma! So I think the chorus captures all of those feelings.”
Leah’s music is a clear example that artists are taking control of their own sound by introducing new and unexpected layers into it when they feel it suits. Meaning that her music can not be accurately contained within on genre label. She explained to us that she wants people to feel good when they listen to her music, “like really good. I want them to feel good about how gorgeous they look, how they feel, how their body moves when they’re dancing to this music. I want them to feel like them and their friends are the hottest people in the room. Mostly I want QPOC and underserved communities to know this music is for them, and inspired by them. This is their space for them to be seen, held and feel safe in, and everyone outside of that community can Kiki too if they know and advocate for that.”
Aside from creating music, Leah is also a co-founder of the U Gd, Girl? organisation who run monthly events, workshops and discussion circles for women and non-binary people, creating an open dialogue to explore issues including women’s health, setting boundaries, love languages, body image and more. Perfectly intertwining with her personality and the stories behind many of her songs, Leah spoke enthusiastically about the platform, saying “it’s a space for women and non-binary people to come together to discuss different topics that we think people can sometimes struggle talking to their friends and family with, so this is a space for them to enter a judgement free, safe space and share their stories that we can all learn from, we do healing circles, educational sessions as well as “werkshops” that include self defence classes, “boddy oddy oddy” photo shoots and events showcasing some of London’s best musicians and performers which we run monthly in East London”.
There are not a lot of new interviews with her. However, there was quite a lot of attention her way last year. She Said spent some time with Leah Cleaver last summer. I am interested to see what this year holds for her. Formerly of ZEBEDE, and now this incredible solo artist, I feel this year will see Cleaver make some huge steps:
“Last Time’ introduced us to your sound and your story. With ‘Have You Ever’ coming next, where are you taking us now and how do the two songs connect?
Last time feels like 2am on a saturday night buzzing round through london in a cab and have you ever is 2pm on Sunday and you’re laying in the grass in the park with your friends in the sunshine absolutely GIGGLING and gossiping about the night before, it’s a nod to those that sometimes put their foot in their mouths (like me!) and do cheeky things with gorgeous people but it’s all okay because their friends hold space and love for them.
You started gigging around London early on. What’s one thing that helped you grow a buzz at the grassroots level?
I started going to jam nights, especially ones that made me nervous and my beautiful friends would champion me, and i’d watch other amazing artists and see their authenticness and rawness to perform, so then I started to as well and I would tell those people who I was and I kept coming back, and I think that’s how you build community within grassroots organisations, you just keep going back.
What’s one tip you’d give to another artist who feels like they don’t fit into the industry’s boxes?
People will always try to ‘re-create what you do, rebrand it, manufacture it, mass produce it, water it down, claim it as their own (eventually) - so you may as well be the source! It might take time but you need to exist in the knowledge that your people will find you and will notice what you’re doing, keep your blinkers on and keep going
What’s something you’ve figured out about being an artist that no one told you?
I figured out that there are amazing people doing the same thing as you that will, and can pull you up alongside them so generously and without motive. Sometimes we focus so much on the competition of numbers and who’s the ‘favourite’ right now that we forget that as artists we are our community, and especially as a black woman I know when one of us win we all win, so i’m hear to raise up others voices and I know people have been raising mine so I feel grateful”.
I shall wrap things here. I discovered her music after the release of Pushing Up Flowers, so I am playing a little bit of catch-up. However, I am not firmly on board and can see Leah Cleaver being among our greatest and most admired artists. Someone you really need to hear, she is an artist that will…
BLOW you away.
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