INTERVIEW: Harriet releases new album 'The Outcome': "I wanted to share more of myself with this project than I did on my first album and 'The Outcome' has every version of me in it."

The UK’s Harriet has been releasing music since 2015, and with the arrival today of her fourth studio album The Outcome there is a feeling this is an artist that has grown comfortable with the full power of her creativity and sense of self.

Previously in her career, Harriet focused on mid-tempo pop-rock tracks and emotive piano ballads and The Outcome sees Harriet exploring multiple genres, embracing everything from sparkling synth-electro-pop through to the 1970s pop of The Carpenters. The album was recorded in multiple sessions in Sweden, that saw Harriet work with writing collaborators and producers who have previously worked with artists such as Loreen, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys and Celine Dion.

“I was very young when I made my first record,” Harriet says. “I put myself in a bit of a box with it and felt quite limited creatively. But this new record, I've expressed parts of myself that I didn't feel perhaps comfortable doing a few years back. There were some emotional writing sessions, quite tearful, because they went to difficult places. The Outcome is a bit more vulnerable, but in an empowering way.”

The album kicks off with second single ‘Story Of Your Life’, an uplifting pop rock track teemed with shimmering synths. A song Harriet wrote several years, it is a letter to her younger self.

‘Heartbreak Holiday’ brings in elements of country and the swing and joy of 1970s pop, while ‘Burn’ sees Harriet team up with Indian pop and Bollywood singer-songwriter Nikhil D'Souza. It is an absolutely gorgeous guitar ballad mixed with soaring strings, and a beautiful vocal performance from Harriet.

Latest single ‘Some Die Young’ is a gentle electronica track with a sonic landscape that is constantly evolving, from gradually intensifying electronic beats, to pared back acoustic moments. ‘Real’ moves back into the pop-rock realm, with a strong guitar and a breezy, carefree, driving with the top down feeling.

‘Not In Love’ is an album highlight, with a compelling guitar melody with hints of Latin, a strong beat and lush vocals from Harriet as she questions the beginning of a new relationship. ‘Until forever we can’t go back in time / Never can we uncross the line / Why can’t we be not in love? My heart’s not big enough.”

First single ‘Drop In The Ocean’ is a joyful electropop song that absolutely buzzes with life and refuses to let you go. The album ends with the stunning, minimalist, electronic title song ‘The Outcome’ with a beautiful message of taking life head on and going with the flow: never let the bad times define you. ‘Head first into the sunlight / It’ll all be alright / It’ll all be wrong…Forget the outcome, fuck the outcome’

The Outcome is a beautiful album that has something for every mood. It is light hearted, serious, emotional and carefree and with Harriet’s remarkable vocals - both commanding and soothing - it is an album that you will want to return to again and again. We recently caught up with Harriet to chat more about her career and the creation of The Outcome.

Hi Harriet! It is wonderful to be talking to you today. How is everything in your world right now?
I’m all mixed emotions at the moment. So thrilled to finally be putting this record out after so much time and work, but also a bit anxious about letting it go. It can be quite daunting, the idea of something you’ve created no longer being just yours, but belonging to everyone else out there too. I can’t wait for people to discover it.

That album is of course The Outcome and it is such a beautiful listen, just so good. Tell me all about this album and what we can expect to hear on it.
There are some fun moments on the album; uplifting, feel-good songs, that make me want to dance - ‘Heartbreak Holiday’, ‘Drop In The Ocean’, the single, ‘Story Of Your Life’. These are combined with some more melancholy, reflective moments such as the title track of the album, which is about learning to live in the moment, let go and not worry about the consequences of the decisions we make. Songs like ‘Real’ and ‘I Think Of You’ feel very nostalgic to me and really take me to another world. I hope listeners are able to resonate with the record and that it makes them feel good! I wanted to share more of myself with this project than I did on my first album and I feel like The Outcome has every version of me in it. Sonically, it has nods to the 70s music I love; ABBA, Carole King, The Doobie Brothers, Elton John. So a touch retro, with a fresh perspective!

This album has been a long time coming, it has been a few years since your last album release. What was the creative process like for The Outcome?
I made the whole record in Stockholm, Sweden. I was introduced to a couple of producers, Joakim Olovsson and Pär Westerlund on my first trip there and fell in love with them and their way of working. Many more great collaborators then became a part of The Outcome and it just grew organically from there. I loved travelling back and forth to work on it as it helped me to really focus on the music without any of life’s distractions getting in the way. I put a lot of myself into the record, so it took quite a bit out of me. It’s been a few years in the making, with the pandemic creating quite a pause in the process. This period away from making the record gave me a lot of time to live with the songs and some that weren’t going to end up on the album, have ended up becoming my favourites. I don’t know what would have happened had I not had that time actually… I guess I found a silver lining there!

Your very first album released in 2016 had a very different sound to your last few singles - it was in the main more laid back, piano ballads where your current sound is much more upbeat, poppy and electronic. What inspired this change in sound?
I was fortunate to work with some amazing songwriters and producers on the album and they each brought out different things in me. We experimented with different ideas and sounds for the record that I hadn’t considered trying before. Who you work with really inspires the direction a song can go in and where the arrangement and production ends up. I think also, I am just in a different place mentally than I was a few years back when I made my first record. So much of what I create comes from what I am feeling and experiencing at the time. The Outcome has a different energy, for sure. Stockholm is such a musical city and I was very inspired by the music I discovered out there. We covered a beautiful song called ‘Some Die Young’ by Swedish artist, Laleh, who I was introduced to whilst writing out there. Her work is brilliant, and am so happy that the track is part of The Outcome. Also, need I mention ABBA! I’ve always loved their music and am particularly inspired by the way that their songs can often be so sad, yet make us all want to get up and dance. I’m one to hide behind a smile, so applying this approach to some of my own songs felt pertinent. ‘Drop In The Ocean’, for example, is about being afraid to cry in case you can’t stop and you lose all control over your emotions, but it has this upbeat, sweet energy. It was great fun to record.

The second single from the album ‘Story Of Your Life’ is a shining example of that new sound, it is a gorgeous, shimmering pop track with beautiful melodies and really empowering lyrics. Can you tell me about the inspiration behind this track?
Well thanks so much! I wrote the song as a letter to my younger self. I am an overthinker, a worrier, a people-pleaser. I put so much pressure on myself growing up to never make mistakes, upset anyone, take risks, that I missed out a bit on just going for it, believing in myself and what I stand for. There are so many external factors that prevent us from just living our best life if we let them in. ‘Story Of Your Life’ is about owning your decisions, whether the outcome is good or bad; trusting your inner voice and instinct. The world is tough on women, on girls. There is a movement steering us away from this, but we’re not there yet. I’ve often felt like I never seem to get it right; too confident, too vulnerable, too emotional, not open enough… you can’t win! So ‘Story Of Your Life’ is for anyone who feels like this sometimes and needs reassuring that they’ve got this!

For those new to your music, what has been your musical journey? How did you start your career?
I have been singing since I started talking (much to my parents’ annoyance). Every home video of me and my sister has me wailing in the background, singing some ridiculous song I was just making up on the spot. Music has always been in my life and I knew quite early on what I liked. I was in a jazz band in my teens. We wrote our own songs, but I was obsessed with Ella Fitzgerald and copied her scatting all the time. She was so special compared to any singer I’d heard at the time and I was just fascinated by her. I learnt a lot from singing that kind of music actually. Taught me so much about timing and gave me confidence to improvise and come up with melodies in the moment. I loved it. I moved to London when I was around 20 years old and lived in the heart of the west end, surrounded by Soho and all these fantastic creative people. I spent all my money on my rent and had a little studio setup in my bedroom where I’d write songs and record them using my little Tascam 8 track recorder. I loved layering up vocals and harmonies on it and would spend hours working on music, often late into the night. I was then introduced to the concept of co-writing with other writers and producers and slowly discovered the direction I wanted to go in with my music, inspired by the people I was in the studio with. I remember everything just ‘clicking’ and it all built from there really. I’ve been so lucky to have great support from BBC Radio 2 with my music, which connected me with so many people and is one of the reasons I’ve been able to tour up and down the UK since I released my first album. I hope we can reach even more with The Outcome!

You mentioned Ella Fitzgerald there, who were the other artists that inspired you onto your musical path?
I grew up listening to quite an eclectic mix of music. I’d buy vinyl in charity shops and hunt through my Dad’s CD collection constantly as kid. I’ve always been drawn to distinctive female voices; Ella Fitzgerald, Carole King, Stevie Nicks, Aretha Franklin, Karen Carpenter, Agnetha and Frida of ABBA, Eva Cassidy. I love the ability that great singers and songwriters have to really connect with and move you; change your state. When I discover a song I love and it makes me really feel something, I’ll play it on repeat for days, perhaps in the hope I can just remain in that state of mind for as long as possible, whether it be up or down! Of course, like every child growing up in the 90s and 00s, I just wanted to be Britney Spears, but also pictured myself in smoky jazz clubs singing piano ballads, which later on I ended up doing! New music that I’m loving at the moment is anything by Kacey Musgraves, a yacht rock duo called Young Gun Silver Fox, Stephen Sanchez and I’m obsessed with Jessie Ware’s new album. But those timeless classics from the 60s and 70s are always in my ears and very much inspire everything I do.

You will be heading out on a headline tour in June, how are you feeling about that and what can your fans expect to see in the shows?
I’m so excited to be taking this album on the road. Songs don’t really come to life until you play them live as nothing beats that in-person connection! The last tour I did was very stripped back with just me and a piano. This time, I’ll be touring with my full band, so the energy is going to be a little different. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a show like this, so I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to hear what the audience think and what their favourite songs are. It’s going to be great.

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?
There are not enough women getting recognised for their work in this industry, across the board; artists, writers, producers, managers. I think a lot of doors are opened for men, but have to be knocked down by everyone else to get similar opportunities. I feel that people are much more comfortable giving their opinions on women than than they are on men about what we should or shouldn’t be doing. I have been in many situations where I’ve been told what I should or shouldn’t wear, that I don’t know what’s best for myself, that I shouldn’t sing a certain way (all comments made by men). I don’t think people feel the need to attack men in this way. As you say, for decades, they have been in positions of power in terms of making or breaking artists; their approval of a sound or a look ultimately determining whether or not someone becomes a star. We see this in the history of so many female singers’ careers. I think when a pattern has been in place for so long, it’s very difficult for stereotypes to be eradicated. We are fortunately in a place where there is at least a positive conversation around equality for people of all genders, and we seeing more female artists being celebrated, but we have a long way to go. As a woman, I feel it’s my responsibility to encourage the next generation of women to stand up for who they are and to try their best to cut out the background noise telling them otherwise. But I (we all) need to make more of a conscious effort, the guys included! I loved having Autumn Rowe write the song ‘Something Simple’ on my album and working with the brilliant Sharon Vaughn on several of the other songs. I’d love to include more women as part of my creative process, so my team are working on putting some sessions together for album no.3!

The Outcome is out now, what else do you have planned for 2023?
I’ve already started working on my next record. I’ve always got something to say (ha!) So I will be continuing to work on that in Sweden and London. But in the meantime, I’m going to try and just enjoy The Outcome being out there in the world. I’m always onto the next thing, but sometimes you have to take a moment to sit back and take it all in…

The Outcome UK tour
JUNE
1st - Shrewsbury, Theatre Severn
2nd - Birmingham, Symphony Hall
3rd - Cardiff, Acapela Studio
10th - Milton Keynes, The Stables
16th - Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall
17th - Bury, The Met
29th - Pocklington, Arts Centre
 
OCTOBER
16th - London, Arts Theatre

The Outcome is out now via Bright Star Records. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things Harriet, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.