When Alice Rowe popped up in our inbox the other day, a bell rang and we realised that we’d already come across this future UK star with her Foreseen EP. She’s side-stepped that pop-leaning sound with this new one, ‘As It Seems’, which is blended with shades of R&B, soul and alt-jazz. In the quote below the artist describes how this is finally the sound she feels like she was meant to make.

As for what ‘As It Seems’ is all about, this relaxed, contemporary track was inspired by an art exhibition in London that depicted the characters in Lewis Carroll novel’s Alice In Wonderland as a people suffering with mental health. For the musician, it became obvious that she should express her own struggles, as you’ll hear in the line “behind close doors you can’t see, nothing is ever as it seems.” This idea of repressed inner turmoil as invisible to anyone looking in form the outside compliments the tranquil production and uptempo R&B melodies, which gives off an air of cool confidence.

The fact is, that you can’t always tell what internal battles people are fighting. Just like Alice Rowe puts it “Even if they’re smiling, there’s always something that they’re hiding.”

“I wrote this track after attending an art exhibition in London ‘Alice in Wonderland – Curious & Curiouser’, the concept was about a girl who struggled to survive the confusing world of adults, she also struggled to come to terms with life and learnt that there are many layers/ mysteries. It is thought that Alice and several other characters secretly suffer from mental health issues which helped me to come up with the lyric ‘behind closed doors you can’t see, nothing is ever as it seems’, this is a metaphor for the many doors Alice opens in Wonderland and also for real life where you never know what’s truly going on. After attending the exhibition I felt that the concept fit with my current thoughts at the time and it felt right that I explore that. I then created the project. The art work is also inspired by one of the pieces of art in the gallery which I have in my home studio. This track is really exciting for me as I feel like this is where I found my sound.”

Follow Alice Rowe on Instagram.