Talia Mar talks starting solo career with debut single Self-Portrait: "I wanted to merge Lauryn Hill with Taylor Swift"
31.03.2023 - 06:17
/ officialcharts.com
Talia Mar is taking being a pop star seriously. So seriously, in fact, that she's already studied (and is emulating) the greats.
Today sees the official release of Talia's major label debut solo single, Self-Portrait, a kitschy mix of pop and hip-hop that sounds like a mix of Kiiara's influential 2016 single Gold mixed with the self-empowerment of Ariana Grande's landmark opus, Thank U, Next.
Talia, of course, has already had a taste of chart success, making her breakthrough last year on summer anthem Stay The Night with Sigala, which was featured heavily on that year's summer series of Love Island and ended up peaking at Number 11 on the Official Singles Chart.
But now, Talia is ready to step out on her own. With a newly-minted solo deal with RCA, influences ranging from Lauryn Hill, the aforementioned Ariana and, of course, Taylor Swift, she's ready to plot a course for pop stardom that's all her own.
"If I could describe my music in a sentence," Talia says, speaking to us over the phone in London, "it would be if Taylor Swift and Craig David had a baby. I love that. That's what I want to be."
Sorry, can you hear that? That's my dog. I just closed the windows. He's really mad at me.
It actually feels like I'm dreaming. I feel like I'm dreaming because this can't be real, right? If I wake up, the song won't be coming out. I have moments where I'm really nervous, but then I get excited again. The closer we get, the less nervous I get. That's a good sign, right?
Oh, stop it! I mean, that's what I love. That's what I want to do. But I loved doing those two songs with Sigala and Nathan, and they're so fun to perform live. But for my solo stuff I really wanted to lean in to what I grew up listening to and what I actually