‘It’s just my own medley of madness’

GUERNSEY-BORN music artist Empara Mi – or as we know her, Chloe Curran – is fast becoming a household name on the international music scene.

Her avant-garde tracks alternate between moments of epic sonic intensity and subdued, lyrical relief creating her own lane of dark pop indebted to hip-hop, soul and R&B. Her uncompromising vision for ‘post pop’ will see the release of her long-awaited debut album later this year.

With more than 254,000 Spotify fans and almost 3m. online streams on Spotify alone, her music has already been featured on several high profile TV shows and streamed in 24,474 cities worldwide. The 27-year-old now lives in London, where she is rapidly becoming a star in her own right.

Empara Mi started writing melodies at a young age – in the music room of Ladies’ College – but her music only hit the public radar back in 2016.

‘I know every singer says this is what they have always wanted to do, but there’s genuinely never been any doubt that I wouldn’t be doing this,’ she says.

‘I’ve always loved music and it was very much instilled into me to be creative and experimental with my music taste, as my parents always have been.’

Things got serious when she started writing for other artists while studying history at university. After graduating, she began releasing material off her own label and collaborating with the very people responsible for the music that inspired her own sound.

She quickly released her first single, Wanderlust, as part of a trilogy of concept pieces, alongside Spoon and World We Live In. Media exposure followed – her song, Shine On You, featured in the series trailer for ITV crime drama Broadchurch.

Shortly after, she released The Come Down, a bold and dark song that saw her travel to Japan to shoot the music video. The track was picked up for use in the popular Netflix reboot of the TV drama Dynasty, and an edited version of Wanderlust by Kendrick Lamar’s producer Rahki, featured in the new Marvel series Cloak and Dagger.

Her songs have featured on a whole host of other TV shows and adverts, including So You Think You Can Dance and Kiss Me First.

As if that wasn’t enough, her collaborations to date include Andrew Dawson (Kanye West), James Faunteroy (Drake, Rihanna), Illangelo (the Weeknd) and long-term writing partner Owen Cutts.

The release of her latest songs, Crying and Blood in the Water, signals the start of a highly intoxicating new era for her music.

Crying is accompanied by a haunting video inspired by the final death scene in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo & Juliet. The song leads with stark piano chords before expanding with warped vocal samples that break into lush vocals.

‘This song was inspired by some of the messages I receive from young girls and boys who are struggling with their sense of identity and find themselves trying to get out of a dark place,’ she told me.

‘I wanted the song to be hopeful and encouraging but also an ode to their courage. The director Matt Hutchings and I wanted to pay homage to one of my favourite movie moments too. We wanted it to feel cinematic and have the romanticism of the scene but deliver a different message. Instead of [Juliet] taking her life, she alone saves it instead.’

Blood in the Water was produced by Zach & Roger (whose credits include work with 2Chainz, A$AP Rocky and Whethan). It features dark brooding production and electronics, setting the foundation for powerful and arresting vocals. The video came out on 30 May, along with an orchestral version of the song, which Empara Mi produced herself.

The lyrics address the fracturing of relationships. ‘This song is about the moment right before the end,’ she said.

‘The moment when you’ve already given yourself a head start in mourning and are reflecting on the relationship before it’s even ended – the good and the bad. Both of you are silently armouring up for the final fight that neither wants to lose and the saddest part is knowing that the one person you’ve chosen to love is becoming the one who hates you the most.’

One thing that becomes clear from our conversation is that a lot of time, thought and effort go into Empara Mi’s songs and musical direction.

She is meticulous and emotional with her lyrics, and she evidently cares a lot about working with people who have a similar vision for her unique art.

While her individual sound sets her apart from the crowd, the desire to be different was never a driving force.

‘I feel like if you go out of your way to try to do something differently, a lot of the time it won’t transpire that way. I can only try to be myself and create music that I would actually want to hear and if it’s perceived as different then I’m happy.

‘To me, everything that I write and produce is my own tailor-made genre of everything that I love to listen to. Then you add my slightly unusual voice and my semi-androgynous style of writing and it’s just my own medley of madness.’

Taking inspiration from the likes of Portishead, Gorillaz, Dr Dre and Sade, Empara Mi’s unique sound exudes soul, hip-hop, R&B and alternative vibes, but is powerfully ‘genre-less’.

I ask her how she typically spends her work days.

‘If you had asked me a few weeks ago I would have said my days were very stressful. I had three music video shoots in the space of two weeks so that was interesting. Recently my days have been filled with writing in the studio with other producers, mixing tracks in my home studio, editing a video, grading [colourising] a different video, music or fashion events and a surprising amount of admin until the early hours. Overall, I’m just lucky that every day my job revolves around being creative and doing something I genuinely love.’

And she believes this love for what she does is key to her success.

‘To be successful, you’ve got to believe in yourself first and foremost. Everyone else will have their opinions, but the one thing you have to remember is that no one else is you and you have to be unapologetic about that to survive and achieve great things.

‘Have a strong team of people around you who really believe in you and share your goals.’

A positive mindset is invaluable to surviving the notoriously fickle, cut-throat music industry.

‘You need a positive outlook to deal with rejection and a hell of a lot of resilience to continue to open doors for yourself. Nobody is ever going to do more for you or wants it more than you do. If you rely on other people you will never be in control of the product or the outcome. Surround yourself with good people who care about you as much as they do about your music.

‘Also, it’s just life... you’re allowed to have fun too.’

The conversation moves on to the ever-divisive topic of social media.

She has mixed feeling about the way it has changed how consumers experience music and how artists interact with their fans.

‘I think it is an amazing promotional tool, but it’s also very saturated so sometimes it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not.

‘I’ve been encouraged to minimise all adverts for my music to only six seconds as anything longer would be past the attention span of anyone scrolling on social media. That is slightly depressing as you want people to engage in the whole piece but that’s the nature of a lot of music now – people want it quickly so they can move on to the next thing.’

While her experiences to date have been impressive, she believes her greatest achievement has been having the freedom to perfect her art.

‘I’ve been very lucky to work with some amazing people over the last couple of years. I’ve heard my music on shows I love, BBC Radio 1 amongst others. But to be honest, the best thing that’s happened to me – hands down – has been just giving myself the time to learn and hone my writing and production skills. I’ve been able to get my music to a place where I’m happy to release it independently through my own label and learn all the ups and downs that go with that.

‘Coming out the other side is by far the best and most exciting feeling I’ve had.’

She has lofty ambitions for the future. Writing for the likes of Beyoncé or Rihanna and collaborations with artists including James Blake, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey are all on her bucket list.

‘My ultimate goal, however, is just to keep making music, to write more, produce more, release more. I want to be gigging and touring the world for as long as I possibly can. I love writing in LA and it’s an incredible place for music but I’m not sure I would ever leave London now.

She often returns to Guernsey for much-needed R and R too.

‘Guernsey is extremely special to me, it’s where I grew up – it’s what gives me a different perspective on everything I do. When I fly home I love to soak it all in. It’s such a tranquil place and so different to the claustrophobia of a big city. It always provokes some creative emotions for me. Most of all I love being back to see my family and friends.’

In June she plans to start performing live, for the first time. Keep an eye on her Instagram page (@empara_mi). Next up is the video for her song Ditch and her single What You Gonna Do, to be released in July.

The debut album will follow later in the year.

It seems the sky’s the limit for our girl from ‘the rock’.

• You can find Empara Mi on Spotify, YouTube and iTunes.