ON THE RADAR
LÉA SEN L
When Léa Sen bought a £25 ticket from Paris to London on a whim in 2019, she had no idea it would lead to an acclaimed career in music that has seen her work with stars like Sampha, rack up millions of streams, and now, release her dreamy debut record Levels. Here, she tells her story...
éa Sen still recalls singing to herself in the mirror at four years old. “I would pretend I was onstage, I just loved it,” she smiles, as we settle into a conversation about her musical beginnings growing up in Paris. “I’d found this lyric game on the Barbie website and I remember
thinking singing just felt so good. That’s where it all started!” From that moment on, music was a constant. Her musician father had a studio next to her bedroom and her brothers’ [Florian and Hugo] love for jazz began to inspire Sen herself.
“I shared a room with Hugo for the first 10 or so years of my life,” she reminisces. “We didn’t have space or money for a piano, so when he was 13 or so, he would take a little piece of paper, write down some piano notes and practise chord shapes on it. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, he’s serious about this!’” Fast forward to now, and the French singer-songwriter is fresh from releasing her debut album Levels via Partisan Records in May. A beautifully cinematic, candid body of work that seamlessly blends experimental pop and R&B with hazy trip-hop atmospheres, the LP takes the listener on an immersive journey through Sen’s emotional and creative growth.
“This album shows how I want to take risks with my sound and my art,” Sen says. “And I also want it to connect. My EPs before this [2022’s You Of Now, Pt 1 and 2023’s You Of Now, Pt 2] were a canvas. I wanted to be able to have fun and express myself, but I didn’t really care too much if anyone listened to them. Levels was more intentional, I wanted to really tell the story and paint a picture of the moments that I have gone through in my early 2os.” A huge part of that story is Sen’s move to London – a decision she made spontaneously in 2019, in the wake of a personal loss.
“In February that year, a friend of mine on Instagram was like, ‘I’m going to London this weekend, who wants to come with me?’ I had never travelled [without family] before, but we got a cheap bus to London and spent about 48 hours there,” she says. “It was crazy, I knew I wanted to move but I hadn’t made up my mind, I just wanted to justify the fact that I wanted to leave Paris. So my goal was to go, see if I connected to it and if I could live there.”
After two days, Sen decided she had to make the move a permanent one.
“That summer I turned 20 and I did a birthday thing with my friends where I said, ‘I think this is the last time you’re going to see me for a while!’” she continues. “With Brexit, I also thought it was now or never. I kept telling my family I was going to go, then I found a super cheap ticket for about £25 on Eurostar Snap, and two weeks later I arrived in London.”
It was difficult at first – “I was crying on the way because I felt like I was letting a lot go and running away,” Sen says. “I was also terrified, I had no plan.” But soon, she began to find her feet, settling into the city and making music just for herself, at first. “When I moved, I didn’t expect to be an artist, I just wanted to be around musicians, listen to music and make music I loved,” she explains. “Then Covid happened, so I just put a bunch of songs out.”
20 | Music Week
The response was fast, Sen started gaining traction online, leading to interest from the industry – “Suddenly, I had a lawyer, managers, an agent...” She also started to notice her music connecting on a deeper level, too. “Someone shared my song I Like Dis while they were visiting their mum’s grave, and they were talking about [the track],” she says. “I thought, ‘Wow, my music is part of people’s lives.’ It made me take it more seriously.” Soon enough, the idea of signing to a label was mentioned – something Sen had resisted up until to that point.
“I had it in my head that Prince said never sign to a label,” she jokes. “But I started talking to a few people and met Partisan. The deal was super fair, really artist-focused, and they were really nice; when I spoke to Tim [Putnam, co- founder], I thought I would just sign to them to keep talking to them!” The idea that she could make a living through music was also a pivotal moment. “I realised, ‘I can pay my rent with this – maybe I can do it for good,’” she smiles. But as her career took off, the pace quickly became overwhelming. As Sen found herself navigating the pressures of being catapulted into the chaotic life of an emerging artist, she struggled with burnout. “This was my first time in the industry, and with my own perfectionism, I felt like I had to work all the time” she says. “I didn’t prioritise my mental health because I didn’t realise how much that was going to hurt eventually.” As things caught up with her, Sen was encouraged to look into therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy, but at the time wasn’t fully open to it. “There was so much pressure for me to do everything,” she recalls. Touring proved to be something of a wake-up call…
ESSENTIAL INFO
RELEASE: Levels LABEL: Partisan Records MANAGEMENT: Raj Chaudhuri & Rich Austen Smith, Giant Artist Management
WHAT THE TEAM SAYS: Jeff Bell, global VP & head of UK, Partisan Records: “Léa has a
“After my first tour, I completely crashed,” she tells Music Week. “I thought, ‘I can’t do this,’ and I spent the month meditating, doing yoga, but I still had to work. The last three years have just been about learning to balance that, and I am grateful for it. Being an artist can be isolating, so what I’ve found helpful in therapy is being able to talk about things openly. I’ve realised I have to look after myself, and I’ve learnt to feel whole without music, to pick up the guitar when it feels right, not because I feel like I have to.” And it’s paid off. Across her career so far, Sen has been championed by the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio 1, 1Xtra and Apple Music, received acclaim from titles like The Guardian and The Fader, and worked with artists like Don Toliver, Oscar Jerome, Joy Orbison and Sampha. That last name holds a very special meaning.
vision for every part of her art and it’s a joy to work with her to bring the world she has created to life. Since moving to London, she has quickly, and deservedly, become one of the community’s go-to collaborators, and now her debut presents her as the indelible songwriter, producer and performer that she is in her own right.”
“When I was 17, I went to see Sampha in Paris with my brother and I remember thinking, ‘Holy shit, I want to do that,’” she says fondly. “From working in my room by myself, to being in the studio with him, then playing shows together in New York, the whole experience has fuelled my soul.” And now, as Levels encapsulates the last few years and sets the scene for a new chapter, Sen looks ahead at what is next. “My goal is to have some kind of programme where I can guide artists through the types of experiences I went through,” she concludes. “But right now, I just want my music to find the right people, my tribe, and I want to inspire others. To be copied one day, that is the dream!” MIRANDA BARDSLEY
musicweek.com
PHOTO: Claryn Chong
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