FEATURE:
Spotlight
PHOTO CREDIT: Loïc Rodrigues
families in music, Lauren Keen is known as Amma. Her sister is RAYE, real name Rachel Keen. Abby-Lynn is known as Absolutely. I have featured her before. I am shining a spotlight on Amma, as she released the E.P., Blame Game, last year. A tremendous artist that I am very excited about, there are some interviews to drop in. The first of a couple of interviews that I want to come to is from Numéro Netherlands from last year. For Amma, music was never the plan early on. She started quietly writing songs and eventually doors opened. She is one of the most promising young artists coming through:
“You've said becoming an artist wasn't the plan. What changed during that quiet songwriting moment that pulled you toward music?
Music has always been a part of my life. Even when I tried to escape from it, it pulled me back. At this point, I had been a writer for about three years. I was on a writing trip in LA and it was a tough trip for me as I was very in my head and feeling quite sad. I then went for a meeting with one of my publishers and the A&R label. We were going to have the meeting about artists in the label and what I could do for their projects. About 20 minutes into the meeting, we ending up talking about me as an artist. I kept deflecting the topic, which I personally think I’m really good at doing, and after a while, I allowed the conversation to open up. As I was in the car driving back home, I felt the best I had on the whole trip. I started asking myself why I thought that was and slowly started laughing out loud because I was starting to accept the fact that it had planted a seed of fire in my stomach for something I may have been pushing away.
My next thought was “Ok, if I am going to do this, what am I doing it for?” Which became the title of a song I wrote about me becoming an artist. This song allowed me to release a lot of thoughts and emotions that had been going through my head and was unable to decipher. This led me to drop my pride and lean into the idea of really putting my art out there”.
You come from such a musical family. How did growing up alongside RAYE and Absolutely shape your approach to creativity and self-expression?
Growing up in a family like mine is really a blessing. We have had so many fun music moments, but like any family, there are times we don’t get along and we argue and bicker. I am so grateful I was given my sisters. It’s been hard understanding and finding my identity in such a bold family. I constantly compare myself to them when creating and I feel that if I don’t compare myself, someone else in the room will. I guess it’s a self defense mechanism.
I’ve been to writing sessions for other artists and been told “Can you do it like Abby?” or “Put some RAYE into it.” A lot of the time I would just say OK with a cute smile on my face and ignore it, but there were and still are times when it gets to me. However, once I started creating songs for me, things really started to shift. I started to understand what I liked and what I didn’t. I stopped thinking what would my sisters do. It then felt easier to go and share music with my sisters, without being afraid of getting honest feedback. We usually share music with each other when we are in the car. Driving home to our parents for Christmas or going to our uncles and aunties houses. We will authentically and naturally take turns sharing our new music as we sometimes don’t get to hear what each other’s been up to for months at a time.
How has your songwriting evolved since you first started, and what's surprised you most about your own growth?
Wow, my song writing has changed dramatically. There used to be times I’d create a whole song, listen to it back as soon as I’ve finished and then delete the whole thing. I had a really high standard for myself and of the music I made. If my expectations weren’t met, it was really hard for me to want to get back in the studio and start again. This was a very repetitive cycle for me, until I eventually made a song that I didn’t hate. It was the first song I didn’t delete and wasn’t as embarrassed by. Fast forward to today, where I now really understand my writing process. I can feel when I need to create and can also feel when I’m forcing it too. What’s surprised me most about my growth from the first song to now is most likely my ability to really create something I am proud of. That was one of the hardest tasks for me to do when writing, and now I have created a fair amount of songs I love. Even now, I wrestle with saying that out loud.
You've said your music isn't to center yourself, but to connect with others. What's been the most meaningful reaction you've received to your work so far?
I think there are a lot of songs in my projects that have brought out different reactions in people, one of them being a reaction from my older sister RAYE. I am definitely more of a quality time and acts of service person when showing love. However, my sister is physical touch and words of affirmation, which I give her none of unless she is really sad. Not dramatically sad, but really sad. I wrote a song called ‘if not you, who?’ for her.
We were speaking the day before I wrote this song and I was worried about going in and not feeling inspired. There can be times where my sister doesn’t understand me at all and starts talking about experiences she’s had, which has nothing to do with what I’m saying, but on this day, she said all the right things and it really helped reassure me and my ability to create. I made this song and then showed it to her that night on Facetime, and like the emotional person she is, she started to cry and told me all the things she loved about the song, but more importantly, how it made her feel. To me, that’s the most important thing about my music right now. What it can do for someone else”.
Actually, a couple more interviews before I wrap things up. I want to get to Occhimag and their 2025 feature about Amma. A brief reflection and chat, this is someone who I think will grow to the same level as RAYE. In terms of releasing these stunning albums and commanding huge stages. It is only a matter of time before Amma is getting serious attention and focus:
“For London-based singer-songwriter Amma (Lauren Keen), music was always in the air—but never in her plans. Growing up surrounded by melody and rhythm, she initially resisted the path that seemed predestined. “It felt like the last thing I wanted to pursue,” Amma reflects. Yet, as life often proves, the things we push away sometimes hold the greatest pull. It was during a quiet, introspective moment—writing a song solely for herself—that Amma’s journey as an artist truly began. That song, born from solitude and sincerity, soon found its way into the wider world, catching the attention of industry insiders and propelling her into label meetings she never expected.
Amma’s artistry is rooted not in emulation, but in emotion. She isn’t driven by the industry’s biggest names; instead, she finds inspiration in artists who are unafraid to feel deeply and honestly. “No matter what I’ve felt, another human has felt it too,” Amma shares. “Although our stories differ, the emotions we experience are something we all share universally.” This empathetic approach shapes her songwriting, which continues to evolve through collaborative sessions, late-night bedroom musings, and harmonies with her sisters—fellow artists RAYE and Absolutely. While singing has always come naturally, finding her unique voice as an artist has required patience, bravery, and several leaps of faith”.
I will end with an interview from FLAUNT, where Amma, RAYE and Absolutely were together. Three sisters talking about their careers and lives. It was great to see them all photographed together and in conversation giving their own reflections. I want to focus on words from Amma:
“Amma, I was listening to your tape, Middle Child. On the opening track “What Am I Doing It For?” you’re very candid about finding your place, identity, self-confidence, self-belief, trust. How did you get to that place?
Amma: It was definitely a lot of ups and downs for me. I’m quite prideful, so I kind of, like—
RAYE: No, you’re not!
Amma: I am a little when it comes to music.
RAYE: You have a high standard for yourself.
Amma: Okay, yeah, my standard is quite high, so it was difficult writing music and not feeling like I was reaching the standard, especially when I would hear things that [RAYE] or Abby [Absolutely] had created, and being like, “Wow, this is really amazing,” and then hearing things I would create and be like, “Okay, we have so much work to do.”
One day I was just having a bad experience when I was in LA—because I was writing for other artists—and I went to a meeting meant to be for other artists in that label. Twenty minutes into the meeting, it was about me and my own artist project, and I was like, “That’s not happening!”
I left that meeting after allowing it to become a fake reality for a bit, and I thought, “Okay, well, maybe I should just dive into this and see where it can bring me.” I went home to my Airbnb that day, and got my setup on my bed, and it kind of just came out. I remember just recording the a cappella, “mmmm, aahhh” things and the lyrics just kind of came out, which I kind of find is the easiest way to write on my own.
By harmonizing and then figuring things out through that, on your own?
Amma: I really find it so easy writing through acoustic guitar. I’ll build up the production after, because that’s the way I get emotion, is through the chords feeling vulnerable too, you know?
Amma, I remember hearing you say recently that being a musician wasn’t your initial vocation. What would your vocation have been if not music?
Amma: If I could do anything other than music, I would 110% be a therapist. I mean, this kind of songwriting in itself, understanding people’s stories and being able to put it in a song so that there can even be healing from that. I feel like I do [my music] when I feel super upset, I’m like, “Oh, I think I’m meant to write, because I haven’t written in so long, and I’m just so emotional. I must write something.”
What do each of you think the role of an artist is in 2025?
RAYE: It’s a form of hope. When I think back to even, like, COVID times, everyone was really feeling it. That actually was a moment where I felt like, “Oh my gosh.” You really realize when the world’s going through this, how all of this stuff is so important.
Amma: A lot of people feel alone in a lot of emotions that they feel. But actually, there are only 27 distinct emotions, meaning everyone has felt something. Like, you’ve been sad? [I’ve] felt exactly the same. Our stories may be different, but we can feel the same emotion. So for me, I feel like putting my story across so that people can understand that the feeling that they’re feeling isn’t an isolating one, but can be shared.
Absolutely: I think about my music, from people that it’s a place where they can really be immersed, and be transported into a different world.
RAYE: That’s beautiful.
Amma: That’s nice”.
If you do not know about Amma, then make sure that you follow her. The E.P., Blame Game, is extraordinary! This is someone who is going to have a long future in the industry and release so much great music. She does come from this very much family. Currently on tour with RAYE supporting her on the THIS TOUR MAY CONTAIN NEW MUSIC, it is a busy ands exciting time for Amma. However, rather than compare her to RAYE and Absolutely, Amma is her own artist, though there is that sibling connection and shared talent. It is clear that Amma is someone that you…
NEED to follow.
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Follow Amma
