September 13th marks the release of Amethyst’s sophomore EP, Daydreaming, featuring five brand-new singles, including previously released “What You Call It” and "Say”’, available on all platforms.

Amethyst worked with a variety of producers on the project including Hilts, Andrew Smart, JFlames, Jack Ducker and Alex Hollingsworth. Daydreaming is a reflective tribute to groove, smooth soul, and the true essence of R&B. It showcases a diverse combination of genres, conveying her story through elements previously unexplored.

The project opens with the previously released track "What You Call It" that begins with an introduction by James Baldwin from the 1970 documentary ‘Meeting the Man’ James Baldwin in Paris.” This sets an introspective tone that resonates throughout the release. The track encourages listeners to reflect on society's departure from humanity and the social and individual changes we are experiencing. Themes of greed, drugs, and alcohol are explored as forms of escapism for today’s general population. Amethyst explains, “I had this repeating line in my head, ‘If you want it, you can have it.’ I wanted to create that feeling of being pressured into doing something you necessarily don’t want to, using gang vocals to represent society and big companies trying to force-feed us a materialistic lifestyle.”

Track "Say" tackles themes of love, using an authentic vintage recording that captures the essence of country soul. Amethyst collaborated with artist Jack Ducker to bring a fresh perspective to the recording process. “We recorded the vocals on this insane mic that gives that vintage sound, exactly what we wanted. I wanted it to feel gritty so you could hear the anger in my vocals coming through,” says Amethyst. Inspired by Yebba, she incorporates tambourines, strings and 70s style Bv's and handclaps to show her love of instrumentation.

Lead track, "Loving is a Crime," portrays the haunting love that broke Amethyst's heart. She's unable to detach from the one causing her this anguish, the one who plays games with words removed from his actions to make her feel loved. Amethyst seeks healing and resolution, longing to move on. “Interlude” marks a shift in tonality, leading into the second half of the EP where messages of empowerment, self-worth, and reclaiming her groove are a priority. Amethyst promises herself that this time things will be different, with growth and no more setting aside dreams and aspirations for those who do not matter. The release is a profound journey through the struggles and triumphs of life, love, and personal growth, showcasing Amethyst’s versatility as an artist and storyteller.

Amethyst Shares Her Inspiration for Daydreaming: “Most of the inspiration for the songs on Daydreaming came from me sitting on the bus on the way to work staring out the window at the world around me and just really taking everything in. The songs are a musical form of what my mind was going through in these moments. Whether that be overthinking why that person doesn't want to be with me, trying to figure out who I am, who I want to be and what music I want to make or simply people watching and seeing London for what it really is and seeing the disparities between rich and poor as I passed by different communities and areas.”

Amethyst’s sound encompasses modern R&B production, and old school soul instrumentation all tied together with luscious and soothing soulful vocals. Inspired by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Mary J Blige, Michael Kiwanuka, Cleo Sol, Beyonce and Lianne La Havas, Amethyst showcases her love for genres spanning Jazz, Soul, R&B, Motown, Reggae, Country and Pop.

Daydreaming aims to add to her sound, introducing experimental production styles and purposeful collaboration. It’s this kind of dedication that has earned her recognition from the likes of Radio 1, Radio 2, 1 XTRA, Jazz FM, Foundation FM, Rinse FM radio play.

Born in Chichester, Amethyst first discovered her love for music by singing along to Disney soundtracks in her living room from age 3 and listening to classical and soca music with her dad on the way to school. She started learning classical piano and violin at 4, then went on to learn drums, whilst also teaching herself clarinet and guitar all by the age of 11. She attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford where she studied vocal performance, then completed a songwriting and production Masters at Tileyard. Amethyst was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be mentored by Joy Crookes through winning a female artist programme with Hypertribe and has received backing from the MOBO Help Musicians funding as well as the PRS Open Fund for Daydreaming. With two previously sold out headline shows at The Grace and Paper Dress Vintage as well as support slots for artists Charles, Loie, Nia Chennai and Saint Joshua plus multiple Sofar Sounds, performances at The Ned, Ronnie Scott’s and a slot at The Great Escape Festival.

Amethyst sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:

1.Your EP is called “Daydreaming” - what dreams did you allow to take centre stage in this project, and how did you bring them to life musically?

I think the main dream/focus of this project was me wanting reconnecting with myself and my sound and finding my own again. I knew to do this I had to have as much input as possible, so getting to engineer some of the songs myself, doing the vocal production and arranging on some of the tracks and having more control over what sound I wanted was a step towards making those dreams a reality. I knew that this project sonically had to be bigger and better than the last so I wanted to incorporate as many live elements into the tracks as possible. “Interlude” and “Home” are the two most dream like tracks and I think that really is because of the strings and the flutes. I think those instruments really help take you to another world and we even got to lay down real sax and trumpet on “Do You”. A lot of the ideas for the tracks came from moments of daydreaming on the bus or just lying in bed. For example the melody for “Interlude” just came to me one evening and I then got my keys player to write to that melody, where as the lyrics for “Home” came from commuting work on the bus and just taking in the city around me and really seeing it for what it is.

2. "Loving is a Crime" paints a haunting picture of love - what was the ‘crime scene’ that inspired this track, and how did you turn heartbreak into art?

For me it was a mixture of lots of moments leading up to writing this song. It’s about when ou realise that person you’re dating or in a relationship with just isn’t on the same level as you. You maybe giving 110% but they’re only halfway in and they can’t commit to being with you. Like if this loving is going to hurt and be painful then I’d rather get out of this now before it’s too late. Hopefully it can give people power and strength to realise that they are better off without that someone. I think a lot of art is born out of some of the most painful/beautiful moments of our lives and this song again once I had the chords kind of just flowed out of me. But Hilts really helped bring this song to life with his production. I love how we turned a heartbreak song into more of a sexy bedroom track, as it’s almost like a tease. So we brought that playfulness into the production with the layered vocals and the simplicity but not adding too many elements so you can focus on the subject and the words at hand.

3. James Baldwin’s words set a profound tone for the project - how did you translate his literary power into musical expression?

So funnily enough, I didn’t have the idea of added his speech to the track until after the song was basically done. I remember hearing a clip of it on Tiktok and his words resonating with me so much that it made sense to have that as not only the intro to the song but to the project. I really wanted people to dig deep within themselves and connect with the dark sides of them they normally hide and just focus on loving themselves again and the people around that because this world can often and especially right now feel like a very scary place. Even though the speech was one of the last things we added I still think that it helped us finalise the production and make sure that it was as gritty and powerful throughout to almost be like a punch in the face to the listener. For example having that choral effect with the BV’s with that tempting line “if you want it, you can have it” and the reverb on the last note so you can really feel my pain but also giving the listener time to digest the song as well. And even the low cello line coming in for the last chorus to give it even more drama. These were all production elements we had to think of to make sure the message hit home with the listener.

4. "Say" captures the grit of love - how did you get your vocal ‘hands dirty’ in this recording to achieve that raw, vintage sound?

So I was really lucky to work with the amazing Jack Ducker on this tune. His studio is incredible and he has this insane vintage microphone that I got to use and it just suited the vibe of the song so perfectly. But he also had this great idea to put my vocal through this compressor amp and turned it up manually so that it distorted my vocals to give that old school grittiness to the vocals which I really really love. The lead vocal is majority one take the whole way through as well so I think that also adds to the raw element as it’s exactly the pain and anger I was feeling in that take, no stopping and starting just pure emotion throughout.

5. Cleo Sol, Ella Fitzgerald, Lianne La Havas - these are some iconic influences. How do you tune their legacies into your unique sound?

Having such big influences definitely makes it incredibly hard to create music up to their level and standard. But I  think the main things that I do try to incorporate within my own sound is 1. Their incredibly vocal range and ability. That’s something I’m consistently working on and when I’m writing I not only want to make sure that I have catchy hooks but that I’m pushing myself as hard as I can to create moments in my songs that people will remember which is what I love about them. And then 2. It’s really all about keeping that old school sound in my music somehow. Using that blend of live instruments, keeping the funk and the groove with the baseline and the drums and trying to not overcomplicate the production so people can focus on the vibe and the message. I think also trying to speak about issues that really matter to me and not alway focusing on love or heartbreak is something I really admire about all their work.

6. "Daydreaming" seems to be a journey from heartache to empowerment - what personal milestones did you hit while crafting this EP?

I think a big personal milestone for me was getting to engineer some sessions myself. I have always been quite shy in sessions and with this project, I wanted to push myself in all aspects and have as much input and control as possible. I created, arranged and recorded all the BV parts for “What You Call It”, engineered the strings on “Back in my Groove” and “Interlude” as well as engineering the keys for “Interlude”. I also knew that I wanted to produce as much as possible or at least be able to create demo versions of the track and the ideas I had so that we weren’t starting from scratch with all the songs and at least I knew the bones of the ideas were coming from my head. So “Loving is a Crime”, ‘Back in My Groove” and “Interlude” all started like that. And I think the biggest milestone I hit was just believing I had the talent and the know how to create music like this, which has just fuelled me even more for future projects to come.

7. In "Back In My Groove," you reclaim your rhythm - how did you find your groove again, both musically and personally, through this EP?

This song is definitely one of my favourites on the project, because it’s a song that really came from me and through me. It was the first song after releasing my previous singles that I created and guided me on the path for the rest of this project. I remember being sat at home one evening and I was sobbing my eyes out because I felt so lost and unsure of what I wanted to create and then I picked myself up and just said try and create something. And I wrote the demo for Back in my Groove that night! It just really felt like it was meant to be and I remember saying to myself “oh okay, I get it now”. And I took that same vibe into the rest of the songs we made as well as just really trying to let myself be free and reconnecting with making demos myself and trusting my own ideas before taking them to a producer. But I do have to say a big shoutout to Andrew Smart my really good friend and producer who exec produced the project! He really held me down and kept that belief going when sometimes I didn’t have it.

8. Your performances have graced iconic venues like Ronnie Scott’s - what can people expect from a live show?

High energy, good vibes, songs for almost every mood. Bigger and better arrangements of the tracks, BV’s and all. I always make sure to through a cheeky cover in there as well, so people can expect the unexpected. And always a little bit of audience participation.

9. Your voice seems to dance between modern R&B and old-school soul—how do you choreograph that balance in your music?

I think the more music I’ve created I’ve realised that my voice will always be more soul/jazz leaning. But because I am so influenced by R&B, I use production to bring out those elements that I love to create hopefully a newish slant on the genre. I love to have a mix of real live instruments and programmed elements to keep that balance. But I’m a big bridge girlie, so I try and always incorporate that for my R&B lovers.

10. As you prepare to share "Daydreaming" with the world, what’s the one ‘dream’ you hope listeners will carry away from this EP?

That really anything is possible if you put your mind to it. This time 2 years ago when I started the project, I never thought I would be here. So to see this project finally out in the world is a testament to believing in myself and determination. Don’t be afraid to be yourself because no one really does it like you.