INTERVIEW: Courtney Hadwin on new single ‘You Only Love Me When I Lie’ and upcoming debut album
Published: 24 April 2025
Britain’s Courtney Hadwin was just 13 years old when in 2018 her stunning audition for America’s Got Talent went viral, with views in the hundreds of millions. Hadwin made the finals, coming in in sixth place and was quickly signed to Syco Music/Arista Music.
In the intervening years Hadwin has released an impressive collection of music, with her sound ranging from rock, soul, blues and tender ballads. Throughout it all her incredible voice never fails to thrill - mature beyond her years, it is powerful, nuanced, husky, emotive and a dream to immerse in.
Now a fully independent artist, Hadwin recently released her new single ‘You Only Love Me When i Lie’. After a string of singles with a punk-rock-pop soundscape, ‘You Only Love Me When I Lie’ is a brooding blues-soul number with Hadwin giving a truly extraordinary vocal performance which brings to mind some of the greatest blues singers from the 1960s such as Janis Joplin.
The song tells a dark story of pretending to your significant other, only showing them the side they want to see and hiding your pain underneath a facade. ‘You only want me when I smile / So I pretend that everything's alright / Been pretending for a long long while / But I'm all done pretending tonight,” she sings.
“This song came from a place of pure frustration and I can’t wait for fans to be able to indulge it word by word!,” Hadwin says.
The song will feature on Hadwin’s debut album Little Miss Jagged which will be released on 12 September. Featuring a range of genres from hard rock, to Motown, funk, punk and epic ballads, Hadwin created the album in Memphis with Grammy winner Kevin Bowe (Etta James, Joe Cocker).
“They’re coming-of-age songs, written either when I was going through the worst of times or when I felt on top of the world,” Hadwin reveals. “I’m both nervous and excited to be putting them out into the world, as this is the most personal I’ve ever been in my songwriting. It’s the story so far.”
The release of Little Miss Jagged is a major event in Hadwin’s already impressive career and is likely to bring her even further into the spotlight. With a once in a generation voice and a truly diverse sound Hadwin is primed to make waves all over again. We recently caught up with her to chat about her new single and upcoming debut album.
Hi Courtney! It is so lovely to speak with you today. How is everything in your world right now?
Everything is going great, I am so happy and I’m finally releasing music and everything is finally going my way! It feels great
Congratulations on the release of your new single ‘You Only Love Me When I Lie’ - it is such a gorgeous, bluesy-soul song with an incredible vocal performance from you. What was the inspiration behind this song?
This song was wrote mainly to all those people who constantly wanted me to be someone I’m not! Personally and online! I’m never going to be perfect but I’m always gonna be me and I hid being myself for a long time and now I’m embracing it! Every one isn’t always happy, everyone has their bad days, Smiling even though it hurts because you hate the way people worry about you, is something people shouldn’t have to do
Its blues-roots-soul sound is quite different from your last couple of releases which had more of pop-punk-rock vibe. What was your creative decision in going down the bluesy route for this particular song?
Blues and soul has always been a big part of my musical journey and I’ve always said I’m not an artist that can just stick to one genre, every song has to have its own unique identity.
You have announced that you will release your debut album Little Miss Jagged on 12 September, which will feature ‘You Only Love Me When I Lie’. First of all, I love the title you have chosen for the album - what is the story behind it?
I’m always raw! I’m not always gonna be this perfect pop star that lives inside a box of music! I’m out of the box I always have been and I’m definitely not perfect! I’m like Marmite - you hate me or you love me and I’m fine with that! “Jagged” is a word for being sharp around the edges, and I’m not a smooth perfect little pop star. I’m a little different and this album is very jagged.
A debut album is a pretty momentous event in any artist’s career - how does it feel to have it complete and in a few months release it out into the world?
I’m scared, so scared, but also very excited.I feel like I’ve been very vulnerable with this album songwriting wise and I’m a little scared for that, but i just really want the world to know my story and who I am, which makes me excited
You have said this album features coming of age songs which reflect both some of the worst moments in your life, but also some of the best. Can you talk to me a little bit more about the inspiration behind the album, and what we can expect to hear?
I went through a load of obstacles from the age of 13. Finding, meeting and trusting the right people, but after I got through a couple record deals and no one knowing really what to do with me, I decided to do it independently with Kevin Bowe a songwriter and producer who I met during the process of finding myself. We created this album Little Miss Jagged which has so many meanings in every single song, not one song is the same. I’ve been writing this album for a very long time, so it’s very much a coming of age album where I tell the world who I am, where I have been and what I have been going through.
You will be previewing the album in a headline show at The Fiddler’s Elbow in London on 30 May - how are you feeling about that and what we can expect to see in your set?
I am actually so flipping excited! This is my first show back as Courtney on stage and I can’t put into words how excited I am! It’s my first show back with an amazing group of people and I just want to have a good night with good unreleased music and it’s gonna be just a sick night. I can’t wait!
The music industry has traditionally been a difficult space for women to exist in, thanks in part to be being run by older, straight, white men for so long. There is pressure for women to fit into a particular box or look a certain way, pressure that is never put on male artists. What are your thoughts on gender (in)equality in the music industry?
I totally agree, women need more of a voice in the music industry, from the top to the bottom. It shouldn’t make a difference if you’re female, gay, male, straight we all have a voice and we are all human.
Your debut album is coming up in September, what else do you have planned for 2025?
My main focus when this album is released is to get back onto that stage and put on ONE HELL OF A SHOW!
‘You Only Love Me When I Lie’ is out now. You can download and stream here.
Little Miss Jagged will be released on 12 September, You can pre-order and pre-save now.
Follow Courtney Hadwin on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
