Spotlight: Charlie Is Ready is Manifesting Success and Growth With Her New Single “L4YERS”
☆ BY Marilù Ciabattoni ☆
NEW YEAR, NEW ME — right? Well, Charlie Is Ready is definitely an expert of goal setting and manifestation.
The Alt-R&B and neo-soul singer-songwriter goes by the name of Charlie Is Ready in the music world. Self-describing herself as “melodic and ever-evolving,” she hails from South London in the UK.
She started her music journey in 2020 with her first single, “Labels,” continuing in 2022 with “DIVE” and her debut EP, CYCLE 1. 2023 saw the release of “PARADISE,” which she calls her favorite single so far, and “ROSE OIL.” Charlie is now welcoming 2024 with her brand-new single, “L4YERS,” inspired by real-life experiences of navigating relationships and feelings.
Despite currently presenting a clear sonic identity, Charlie’s sound has changed a lot over the years. If you don’t believe me, just listen to “LABELS,” her first-ever studio single composed at a time when she used to play the acoustic guitar, which inevitably influenced her songwriting process. According to the artist herself, her production was quite sparse and needed a lot more attention and direction.
The turning point came with “PARADISE.” Compositionally, the track is full of Afro-Latin percussion, stacked harmonies, and a super catchy hook. From this song onward, the artist has been much more intentional and directive with how she composes her music, a new maturity that also comes through in her latest single.
Charlie describes her music as having “lots of UK R&B influences, especially Sade and Ego Ella May.”
She believes she’s learned a lot musically, especially under lockdown, which gave her the opportunity to learn theory and push herself vocally by executing more complex scales and jazz styles. Her songwriting is also more mature and personal, which masterfully comes through in “L4YERS.”
Although generally speaking her main influences are Stevie Wonder and Faith Evans, the artist is inspired by many things. “L4YERS” was written from a chromesthesia perspective — the song is meant to represent pink and green, the colors of the heart space.
“Nature and our natural senses inform my creative process a lot, and I really turn to our interpersonal relationship with nature to write/create,” she says.
“L4YERS” is vulnerable and delicate, depicting a side of herself that Charlie doesn’t usually show. However, she thought the time had come to explore this aspect of her personality. The track came from getting introspective about relationships and thinking about the emotional overlap of desires, love, lust, and dreams.
“‘L4YERS’ began with just two chords and a drum pattern before lyrics were added,” Charlie describes. “The initial intention was to create warm chords which could be built upon harmonically, hence the intro of the track.”
Vocal stacks are steadily becoming one of the artist’s instantly recognizable musical traits, amplified with “L4YERS.” Stretching just short of three minutes, she achieves a timeless feat of conversational lyricism, with both verses exposing an inner dialogue about conflict receiving love, as well as finding it but with complications existing within it.
She believes her development into R&B and neo-soul, two genres she’s always listened to, came from listening to herself and reflecting on what music truly spoke to her, giving her a great sense of people and strength in the vocals and overall delivery of “L4YERS.”
In the future, Charlie would love to experiment with grunge rock and deep house/ambient sounds, which at the moment are not a part of her wheelbarrow.
“I don't think my audience would predict that, and it would be a fun switch-up,” she says. “Plus who doesn't lowkey love some grunge?!”
While she is now collaborating with some friends to produce her music, which she defines as a conscious choice that allows to compose more organically, Charlie shares that she would love to collaborate with producers such as Bonobo, KAYTRANADA, emil, and Georgia Anne Muldrow.
For now, though, Charlie is currently living two separate lives, hoping to soon start living her “real life” — meaning quitting her 9 to 5 and getting to work on her music full-time.
“What keeps the momentum up for me is creating small goals that can be achieved within a week or so,” she elaborates. “That way I stay on track and am less likely to get burnt out.”
Although the artist has yet to go on tour, she had the opportunity to support Lilith Ai, one of her friends, in London. She hopes to soon be able to perform concerts on her own. She already has big plans for a possible concept of live concert series.
“As part of my goal setting, I have a list of artists I'd love to tour with, so I think about it a lot,” she shares, excited. “I think a tour with a concept like the SugarWater tour with Floetry, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, etc. would be perfect — a tour that's also about connecting and being present within the space/music. A tour that doesn't allow filming!”
In a year from now, Charlie hopes to have released her second EP, Antidote, be performing more live shows with some support slots on tour, increase her social media audience, and, as she puts it, develop a “greater refinement in [her] craft and [continue] to push [her] creative and vocal boundaries to create impactful, meaningful music.”
