Beckah Amani grins ear to ear when asked about her recent time in London. “I loved London. Absolutely loved it. It was amazing – the culture, the music,” she tells me as we chat in a park in Brisbane. The Tanzanian-Australian singer left for the bright lights of European summer earlier this year and returned to our shores just as her debut EP ‘April’ was released.
London has had a big impact on Amani, who I last spoke with six months ago. “Being there I was really pushed to go, go, go,” she says. A highlight of her time there was writing, which she has wanted to do since childhood. “I was experimenting a little bit more with different producers, from different genres. I did a bunch of things, and also was writing with writers that I’ve been very excited to work with – people I’m a big fan of. To be able to sit in a room and write with them just felt really good!”
A result of these overseas writing sessions was the completion of ‘April’, a nine-track journey that sprawls across Amani’s vast influences. “I wrote half of it here and finished the rest in the UK,” explains Amani. “The title track “April”, which is also the name of the EP, was written in London, and that was really important for me.”
Amani notes that “The Hills” and “Waiting On You” were also finished overseas, and that she can hear the difference between the tracks written before and during her time in the city. “These tracks are more Afro-leaning; I really enjoy doing that there because it’s such a big genre. To dive in and work with producers who work with the genre a lot felt good,” she says.
With ‘April’ being her debut EP, I ask Amani whether she had a plan in mind, or whether the project was more about bringing together her initial releases. She assures me it was more intentional than debuts often are: “I had a concept of what the EP is about, so I wrote a bunch of different songs about a specific topic that I wanted to do. Then, from there, I narrowed it down and picked which ones worked with this concept.” This planning is evident when listening to the EP – Amani’s storytelling shines through on every track, encapsulating the metaphorical autumn that comes throughout your twenties.
Accompanying Amani’s stirring lyricism is production from a cast of heavyweights, including Matt Corby, Josh Fountain (BENEE), Tony Buchen (Troye Sivan, G Flip), Blue May (Joy Crookes), and Tev’n (Celeste, Rina Sawayama). Additionally, her track “STANDARDS” has been reimagined with an orchestral backing, something Amani had never imagined. “That was really special. We got a Swiss composer to do the string arrangement, and it adds such a new experience to the song,” she recalls. “Hearing strings, I was like, wow!”
Coming to the end of such a huge year, in which she has earned attention from triple j, NME, The Guardian, Acclaim Magazine, Monster Children, and more, along with a string of accolades, it’s hard to predict what Amani will do next. She tells me she’s thinking more about her live show, and how to translate ‘April’ onto the stage. “I finally have a band!” she says. “I’m very excited to bring some of the textures out of the tracks with that.”
Touring is top of the agenda, which Amani hopes will include some European shows. Following that, her sights are set on the next big task for any young artist: writing the first album. The process of creating ‘April’ and relocating to London has put wind beneath Amani’s wings in that regard: “It’s really been great. It’s also made me feel brave, because I’m like, just go for it.”
Listen to ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ by Beckah Amani below:
Images by Georgia Griffiths.