Amelia Lily
“This time last year, I’d just finished my GCSEs and left school. A couple of months later, I was on the biggest television show going, got knocked out, came back, got to the final, came third, got a record deal, released my first single, shot my first video and recorded my first album.” Meet Amelia Lily. A 17-year-old on the crest of a wave.
While rollercoaster might be the most over-used word in the history of X Factor contestants, you can forgive the Middlesborough teenager when she describes her life that way. In last year’s series, where she left the show in week one, only to be voted back (thank you Frankie Cocozza), Amelia achieved X Factor history and, under the guidance of Kelly Rowland came third to Marcus Collins and Little Mix.
But, her third place wasn’t the end. After meeting with Xenomania’s Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper (production team behind hits for Girls Aloud, Saturday’s, the Gossip and more), she moved out of her parents’ and down to London, to work in their home studio. Together, they worked for six months solidly, trying different sounds, until they found the songs that summed up the person Amelia is. The result, however, is not what you might expect.
“I would say the album is a bit ‘dancy rock chick’,” she says, with a laugh. “With soulful sides too. It takes time to find yourself as an artist, and as a person, but I’ve learnt so much in the space of six months. Whether it’s putting down melodies, or finding lyrics, or even finding notes I didn’t even know I could hit – I’ve learnt so much from Brian and Miranda.”
14 full on!
For her first single, Amelia
campaigned to her team for You Bring Me Joy to be released; a heaving dance track which shows the versatility of her youth. “It’s such a banger of a tune,” she grins, proud of what she has achieved. “I wanted to come out with a song that exploded, I wanted it to be
unstoppable and for people to see that I’m not just a rock chick. I love dance music, I love that the track starts off with a guitar and you don’t know where it’s going to go.”
For the video, her first ever shoot, she flew to LA. The luxury was not lost on her. “It was incredible,” she says, all wide-eyed, and obviously still pinching herself about where her adventure has taken her. “I got there, and I was like, I’m doing my first video at 17… And I’m doing it in LA! I just fell in love with the place. We were working every day, but we went on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Beverley Hills, and past the Playboy Mansion – I bet that place is an absolute party!”
While her debut can’t fail to get people moving, the album, like Amelia herself, is a mixture of different influences. The first song she recorded was Blue, a world away from her stomping debut. With the
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