Rose Gray has long possessed an immense vocal talent. “When I was younger, it was untamable. I was unsure how to harness or control it,” she explains via Zoom from her home in Walthamstow, London. She originally aimed to focus it in school choirs, then through formal vocal training at a performing arts high school. She believed she had finally mastered it when, in her youth, she gained a record deal—but it only introduced her to the perilous allure of the music world. After leaving the contract, she realized she couldn’t keep any of the roughly 100 songs she’d crafted. Immersed in the lavishness of London’s nightlife—working at the renowned club Fabric—she gradually returned to music over recent years, periodically releasing singles and writing for fellow artists.
Now, she has officially unveiled her debut album, Louder, Please. It has been much anticipated. “It feels incredibly rewarding,” she notes, adjusting the sleeves of her Heaven by Marc Jacobs hoodie with a grin. According to Gray, putting the album together took two years of songwriting, followed by six months devoted to mixing, mastering, and shaping the artistic concept. “I’ve been creating so much music that it feels like I’m almost overflowing,” she confesses. “So, releasing an album is going to be…” she pauses. “It’s simply a relief not to be composing music daily without a defined idea of its future or purpose.”