The vulnerable side of Skye Newman

Skye Newman has always known she could sing. In primary school, she was performing solos onstage, and the feeling of it made her realise this was what she wanted to do with her life. “I got to just escape,” the south-east London singer-songwriter gushes over a video call. “I felt like I was literally in a world of my own. It just felt very peaceful – it made me fall in love with it.”

After finding a fanbase online, Newman has exploded onto the scene, with her raw, powerful voice serving up diaristic musings on life as she’s experienced it. This year saw her release disarming debut single ‘Hairdresser’, which incisively dissects a one-sided friendship, and then her breakthrough ‘Family Matters’ (certified gold in the UK at the time of writing). The latter parses through her childhood, with frank lyrics like being aware of lines of drugs from the age of five, followed with the refrain: “You call it traumatic / But it is what it is / It’s just family matters.” 

In July, Newman performed alongside Ed Sheeran, before touring with Lewis Capaldi. Acknowledging that these experiences were incredible (“My voice has grown; my confidence has grown”), she says she needs to get back into the studio to see how it impacts her next round of songwriting. For now, we’re speaking following the release of her debut EP, SE9. With polished production by Luis Navidad, it features more candid songs about the place she calls home, with Newman’s voice unfurling like smoke, leaving her sharp lyrics floating in the air. 

Newman had a difficult childhood, though she only fully understood the extent once she got a bit older. “Whatever was going on was normal to me,” she says, “Drugs, violence, all that – that was normal. I think I’m very desensitised to a lot of these things.”

The moment that sparked the desire to process her feelings through writing was the death of her auntie when Newman was 11. A jazz and blues singer, her aunt brought young Newman along to the studio, letting her observe the songwriting process along with her live performances. “I just watched her have such passion and love for something,” Newman recalls. “I think because I was so close with her, and I got to watch music be created, that’s where my love of writing and the studio come from. Anyone that’s been in a studio will understand, but it’s very magical to me personally. There’s no better experience than watching a song be created.”

Music had always been a lifeline, but songwriting became a new tool. “Music’s my therapy: it’s easy to be in a studio, write it all down and kind of get it out that way,” she says. Though she had attended BRIT Kids – the prestigious BRIT School’s weekend programme for younger children – Newman did not have success with her auditions for BRIT School as an adolescent. It was a knock, but she smiles as she reflects on it: “It just made me want it more.”

She began uploading her songs online, first on YouTube and then Music.ly (which later merged with TikTok), gradually building her following. Coming from a working-class background in an arts industry that feels increasingly skewed towards people who come from wealth, Newman recognises the power of social media for levelling out the playing field: “You have a voice, you don’t need much to get your opinion out there, and there’s power in numbers for people who don’t have much. Coming from fuck all, I love what it’s done for me.” 

At the same time, she’s very aware of the impact social media has had on the music industry (and beyond). “Numbers are great, but it doesn’t mean much compared to being live with people,” she says. “I’m always the person that would rather sit in a room full of music and live instruments and feel it, whereas that’s got lost a lot more because of social media. It’s ruined the thing of real, raw music because everyone just wants that 20-second, 30-second buzz for TikTok. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ve got the wrong bitch – I’m someone else!” 

Skye Newman is a refreshing, striking new voice on the British music scene, unafraid to put out fully formed songs full of vulnerability and bite. For those who haven’t been paying attention, such a massive breakthrough year has led to accusations of Newman being an industry plant. She laughs at the idea, once more displaying that bright and engaging honesty that has so enraptured her listeners: “I’ll take it! People think someone who’s done this before is writing my songs? Happy days! Means I’m doing it right.”