Dubliner Aimée’s latest single ‘Nobody Else’ is a positive, upbeat, poppy number, and a tribute to her boyfriend. It comes at a time of rejuvenation: Aimée’s career is on the rise, after signing for Universal and gathering a substantial live and online following.
She’s taking things slow, though, focusing on a return to live stages after years away, something that was never going to be easy, as well as a series of singles that are intended to stand alone, before she drives slowly towards an album. Her primary influence is in the current wave of Swedish pop, something she’s incorporated into her production process. But for now, it’s all about the shows.
“The worst part was the nerves, as it had just been so long,” she said of returning to the stage in recent months. “My nerves got the better of me to start with, but as soon as I stepped on stage it was like I was never off. It was great, such a good escape from life. I had so much fun, I think you could tell by everyone’s faces that it had been too long.”
The latest single ‘Nobody Else’ also required a reopening, as Aimée went out to the spiritual home of her music.
“With the single, I went to Sweden to finish it off and it was my first time meeting my producer in person, instead of virtually,” she said. “Finishing the song together was just the best. Swedish pop is my bread and butter, every producer, artist, anybody who is my main inspiration all come from Sweden, so it makes sense for me to go back to basics and go to what I see as the pop capital of the world.”
Such opportunities are linked to some degree, of course, to that sign up with behemoth label Universal.
“Universal have, from day one, treated me as the captain of my own ship,” Aimée told us. “I decided what I want to release, and I’m just so lucky that they’ve been so supportive. You hear horror stories about labels making artists make music they’re not passionate about. They back me 100%.”
“I’m waiting on an album. We haven’t really had life for two years, and I feel you need some life to write about. I have a lot more living to do, so I’ll be releasing single after single for a while. The music is my diary entries, really. All of my songs are stories and life experiences that I’ve had. I don’t really have any interest in singing and writing about made up stuff.”
“The single is about my boyfriend, and of course he was delighted. I’ve written a good amount of break up songs and stuff like that, and he used to joke about writing a song about him. It actually felt different making it. If anything it’s harder to write a happy song. Sad songs, there’s so much you can say. It’s like if you meet up with a friend and both of your lives are going great, you don’t have as much to talk about. If something sad has happened in your life, you can talk for hours about it.”
“You have to think harder to write a happy song and I had to dig deep. Of course it’s his favourite. I wanted to keep it all kind of vague, too, so that people who are not in a relationship can also think of someone else in their life that is irreplaceable. I kept it that little bit open to interpretation, with a message that there’s ‘nobody else like you.’”
