Charlotte Jane

Charlotte Jane’s mission is simple: to make friends with the monsters under her bed. It’ll require vulnerability and honesty, and some decent tunes won’t hurt, but fortunately this Hull-based singer songwriter has got the lot. Lewis Capaldi reckons she’s shaping up as “one of the biggest fucking things in the world” and he may have a point: Charlotte Jane’s been gig-going since she was a baby, performing on stages since she was six, performing to arenas since the age of eleven and writing songs for even longer, and now she’s comfortable enough to show her real self to the world. Don’t panic, it’s nothing scary. 

 

“My songs are about perspectives I wish I’d had earlier, about self-acceptance and being patient with yourself and not expecting someone else to fix everything — it’s on you,” the 23-year-old explains. The picture of facing up to ourselves is one she paints in vivid colours through songs about insecurity, sincerity and truth. From the candid and exposed Down Days to the falling-in-love user’s manual of Baby Steps. Get It Right is one of the oldest of the new songs, its stripped back sound making more sense now than it did when it was written two years ago in response to Charlotte being messed around for over a year by a guy, “Long story short I got stood up.” 

 

Listen carefully and the whole EP, whose songs were written over a two-year period and completed during Lockdown, is the sound of someone figuring out life and love in real time. 

 

It’s been a long wait, but 2019’s Nowhere To Hide EP, a four-track explosion of soulful tunes like Nervous and I Tell Lies which quietly hit millions of streams and established Charlotte Jane as one of the UK’s brightest new voices, giving her the opportunity to perform in her own right and with the likes of Jess Glynne, Dennis Lloyd, Lewis Capaldi and Tom Odell.

 

This second EP gets released in Spring 2021 and its stripped back sound reflects Charlotte’s growing confidence. “Rather than overcomplicate the production, for the first time I’m allowing my vocal and my lyrics to shine brightest,” she smiles. “These are the songs that make me feel most vulnerable, but they’re also me at my most honest.” 

 

If there’s one overriding message of Charlotte’s sparsely opulent new sound, it’s acceptance. “It’s okay to be a not complete and perfect human being,” she acknowledges. “Don’t let that get in the way of things. 

 

With a stupendously soulful voice, startling lyrical dexterity and a winning personality, Charlotte Jane is embarking on the next step of her journey. She can’t promise there won’t be challenges along the way, and there might still be a monster or two under the bed, but you’re welcome along for the ride.

 

 

27.01.2023