INTERVIEW: Charlotte Jane on latest single 'Coming Home': "I’ve written my best music to date and I’m going to release it on my own terms. I’m in an empowering position and I’m in control."

The UK’s Charlotte Jane comes from the city of Hull in the north east of England. Surrendered by music from an early age, thanks to her musician grandparents, she sung throughout her childhood and toured with The Voice In A Million arena choir at age 15. An opportunity to work with famed writer and producer Toby Gad (Beyoncé, Madonna, John Legend) saw her briefly relocate to Singapore, and in 2019 she launched her debut single ‘I Tell Lies’.

Her music is a mix of pop, electronica, R&B and soul and she quickly attracted attention from critics and music fans alike, with her singles attracting streams in the millions on Spotify. She has toured with Sam Ryder, Rag’n’Bone Man and will be touring with Zak Abel later this year.

She has recently released the single ‘Coming Home’, her first new release in over a year. A song about reconnecting with your roots, and finding acceptance of yourself, all your flaws included, it is a celebration of both self and the place that made you - home.

Sonically, it is a lush, warm pop track that moves between gentle, acoustic guitar verses and driving, passionate, beat laden choruses. It is a gorgeous song that really connects with your heart with both its moving lyrics and mesmerising melodies.

The music video focuses on the ‘coming home’ element quite literally as it sees Charlotte Jane travelling through her home town of Hull, celebrating everything it has to give.

“‘Coming Home’ is about falling in love with where you’re from even though it’s a bit rough around the edges and it’s also about accepting who you are, flaws and all,” Charlotte says. “The music video is all about showing the best parts of Hull, with a big focus on shining a light on some of my favourite local independent businesses. I think this is the perfect reintroduction for me, and it’s hard to explain how good it feels.”

Charlotte Jane is an artist who has everything it takes to become the next big thing. A beautiful voice, and a real talent to create insightful lyrics and incredible pop music, she should be your favourite new pop star. We recently sat down with Charlotte to chat more about her career and the creation of ‘Coming Home’.

Hi Charlotte! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us. How is life for you right now?
I’m currently sitting in my brand new purple inflatable moon chair that I bought for 14 Great British pounds from ASDA this weekend, on my balcony, in 27 degrees of sunshine. I may have had a couple too many scoops this weekend and not quite enough sleep but I cannot complain, life is good.

You recently released the new single ‘Coming Home’, your first single in over a year. How does it feel to be back?!
AMAZING! The day that ‘Coming Home’ was released was the best release day I’ve had so far. I wasn’t sat agonising about how many streams it got in the first day or how many playlists it was added to. It was just pure euphoria that I’d finally been able to release again and marks the beginning of a really exciting new chapter for me. I’m an independent artist with a load of music written and ready to go, I’m so buzzing about releasing it all over the next year.

It is an absolutely incredible song, congratulations. You have said it is about accepting your flaws and embracing everything about yourself, can you tell me a little bit more about the inspiration behind the track?
Thank you! That’s definitely the deeper meaning to the song. On the surface, it’s literally a love letter to Hull. But, for me, falling in love with where I’m from and seeing the beauty and charm in all its flaws, played a huge part in me accepting myself for who I am.

What was the creative process behind ‘Coming Home’?
It was the first song I wrote after 9 months of struggling with my mental health during the pandemic. I’d felt really uninspired and scared about the future with the whole world coming to a standstill. I wrote it with my friend James Earp, we just sat in his living room in London with an acoustic guitar and recorded the idea on voice notes. You actually hear the intro of the original voice note in the intro of the final recording, then it drops into the studio version (my favourite moment in the production actually, so sentimental). I think we only wrote half of the song initially because we got hungry and went for Greek food instead ha ha. Then I wrote the second verse at home and we finished the rest on Zoom during another lockdown. I recorded all of the vocals, James added more production but it was mainly an acoustic, reflective vibe. Then Phil Cook did a production pass and transformed it into this huge anthemic track and it completely blew me away. I never saw the song ending up being so upbeat but it’s turned it into something so much bigger than I could have ever anticipated.

You have also released a music video for ‘Coming Home’ and I particularly love how in the video you have celebrated your home town of Hull, which hasn’t always had a reputation of being a glamorous and cool town. How important to you was that aspect of the video, of reclaiming and sharing your love of your home town?
All I wanted to do was shine a light on the city. The local businesses, the beauty spots, the places that might not be the prettiest but hold amazing memories. I know music videos are supposed to be watched but I didn’t really think much about trying to make something cool or clever, watching it back is such a beautiful tribute to where I’m from, my favourite places. I love watching it, it makes me emotional! Huge shout out has to go to Harriet Bols who shot, edited and co-directed it with me. She came and lived the Hull life with me for a few days to capture such a spot on representation of the city.

You have such a killer, and absolutely beautiful, voice - have you always sung?
That’s very kind! Yeah, I’ve been singing since I can remember to be honest. I was probably 3 when I started singing full songs and was also 3 when I first got up on stage. I didn’t get singing lessons until I was 10 and would only have coaching 4 times a year, I spent a lot of my time at the computer singing to karaoke tracks on YouTube in the evenings and on weekends. I just loved it.

Who were the artists that inspired you onto your musical path?
My grandparents inspired me massively before I was even hugely aware of big artists. I just loved watching them perform in bars and clubs, rehearsing with them, learning how to harmonize and having a go at playing various instruments. I’ve been inspired and influenced by sooooo many artists. Old soul greats like Aretha, Otis and Sam, UK bands like Coldplay, Keane and Arctic Monkeys, Adele and Amy, newer US R&B artists like Frank Ocean, Daniel Caesar and H.E.R plus people like Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) whose voice makes me melt.

You have been releasing music since 2019, how do you feel you have developed and grown as an artist in those four years?
It’s definitely turned out to be a strange time to try and launch my career. There have obviously been a lot of things going on in the world that were completely out of our control. Aside from the pandemic, I’ve also been through a lot of huge career changes (chose to leave my record deal, my publishing deal and my management) and the music industry has changed SO much. None of these things were how I originally envisaged my career going but I’ve now got a lot of experience under my belt and it’s really helped me become concrete about what I want, the kind of artist I am and how I’m going to operate going forward. I’ve written my best music to date without any outside opinions or input, with my best friend, and I’m going to release it on my own terms. That comes with its own set of challenges, of course, but I’m in an empowering position and I’m in control.

The music industry has never been a particularly welcoming or safe space for female artists, mainly because it has been run by older, straight, white men for decades. What are your thoughts on gender (in)equality and sexism in music?
I’ve seen and experienced a lot as an artist and as a songwriter. Definitely been in rooms where I’ve felt belittled, like my ideas aren’t valid etc. I feel fortunate that for the most-part I’ve never felt unwelcome in the industry. I’ve felt disrespected, pushed to compromise my integrity and absolutely had things said to me that would never in a million years get said to a male artist. The more people I’ve met, however, the more trailblazing women I’ve met. Women who are strong, powerful, determined and selflessly trying to change the game, redress the balance and get more opportunities for women/lift up the women around them. My friends Violet Skies and Charlie McClean are absolute champions at this, I recommend anyone reading to check out @WeAreSheWrites

‘Coming Home’ is out now, I believe you have some live shows coming up soon, what else do you have planned for 2023?
I’m going on tour with Zak Abel in Autumn which will take me all over the UK and Europe. Super excited for that and in the meantime my focus is on getting more music out over the next couple of months. Headline shows are something I’m also trying to figure out but wanting to get things moving a bit more before I head out on my own tour.

‘Coming Home’ is out now. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things Charlotte Jane, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter.