INTERVIEW - Dionne Bromfield

This week sees up and coming songstress Dionne Bromfield releasing her new single Foolin', the follow up to massive airplay hit Yeah Right. Aged just 15, she's already bagged herself a record deal on Amy Winehouse's Lioness label as well as a slot presenting The Friday Download show on the CBBC channel. With so much talent on show, we thought it'd be only right to catch up with her for a quick chat.

You’ve performed at some of the biggest arenas in the country like the MEN and the O2, do you prefer big venues like this or smaller, more intimate settings?
I like both. I like intimate because it’s nice to be able to connect with the audience a little bit more and it’s nice and cosy. Then again, I like playing big arenas because to be able to say I played there is really cool and I get to connect with even more people! Tricky question!

Do you get nervous before you go on stage?
Oh yeah, I think everyone gets nervous. But a little nerves is good, you know you’re alive!

How does it feel being so young in the music industry? Is it easy dealing with people much older than you?
Sometimes it’s difficult because you just want to muck about. Sometimes I’m like ‘c’mon, I’m a teenager, give me a break!’ Haha! I’m lucky, my mum is always with me and it’s nice to have someone there who I know is looking after me and guiding me.

Do you think you’ve grown up since working on this album?
I have changed a lot. I signed my first album deal when I was 12 so it was a big step, it’s a big job and you have to mature. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I’m so used to working with adults now. I don’t class myself as an adult  but I have that mentality because I can’t act like a kid and get on people’s nerves. I have to have that maturity.

You’re currently presenting The Friday Download show on CBBC – did presenting come naturally to you and how different does it feel from performing? 
To be honest, when I went for the audition I didn’t think I’d get it at all. There were loads of other actresses there that had been on all these BBC shows. I was thinking I definitely wouldn’t get it. I did my audition,  forgot about it, and I was kinda like wow, when I got the part. I couldn’t believe it, I was over the moon. Even my mum was like have you got the wrong person?

It’s exciting to know that when you go to do something that is totally out of the box , totally didn’t see myself being able to do it, that someone looks at you and thinks you have the skills to give it a shot.  It was nice to be acknowledged in that way, I love being a presenter.

Were you prepared for the great success of your single Yeah Right? What feelings went through your mind when you first heard it on the radio?
When I first heard it I was over the moon, I couldn’t believe it. And when it got so much hype as it did I was like this is my song and when we finished Yeah Right, I didn’t think it would be a hit. I think I doubted myself a little bit, I thought it wouldn’t do that well, but it did , I’m amazed by it. No wait to see how people react to my new single Foolin’.

Your new album is called Good For The Soul, what else is good for the soul?
Going to concerts and watching other people perform. Anything to do with music. I guess doing school work is good for the soul in the long run! oh, and ice cream!! I think my album is going to be good for your soul!

Foolin' is available to download on iTunes now. Dionne's album Good For The Soul is released on the 4th July, with Play.com offering 1,000 exclusive signed copies of the CD.

Dionne Bromfield - Foolin' feat. Lil Twist

It seems obvious to say, but listening to Dionne Bromfield's new single Foolin', it's hard to believe 'that' voice can come from someone so young. In Dionne's case, she sizes up at only fifteen years of age - yet despite this, there's a richness and maturity to her voice of someone twice her years.

Signed to Amy Winehouse's Lioness Records - comparisons between Dionne and Amy are bound to be made, but beyond the whole retro, brass heavy 60s sound they both take to, Dionne's music represents something very different. Amy was all about regal decadence and a real stately, atmospheric sound, but Dionne is so much more about kicking back and having a good time.

And Foolin' is the epitome of that - a classy, Supremes styled bit of easy listening, basking in its horn section and sentimental little touches of strings. That said though, it's also surprisingly danceable, and this along with the Lil Twist rap feature, it highlights one of Dionne's chief merits.

She's got the 'youth factor', a fresh sound that in many ways reminds me of what the Sugababes were about when they first started out at the turn of the millennium. There's swagger, a slight kick of attitude; perhaps best channelled in the confident refrain of 'I'm not mugging myself off' in the chorus.

And the thing with rap interludes - well, so often they take away from a previously perfectly rounded pop track; but in the case of Foolin', the inclusion seems genuine and actually brings something extra to what's on offer. And like when Amy included Ghostface Killah on You Know I'm No Good, you can see absolutely why it works so well - instantly the song is opened up to so many audiences.

Dionne is young and trendy enough to dominate Radio 1 playlists but also possesses the sheer class and retro sounds to delight the older audiences too. Debut single Damn Right was a massive airplay hit - one of those month-defining smashes that seems to emanate from the very air around you; think back on memories of that time in months to come and they'll invariably be accompanied by snatches of that track's hooks.

It's the mass-appeal effect at its very best - and just like Damn Right, Foolin' shows Dionne is already a master at it.

Foolin' is released on the 5th June.

Isaac's Aircraft - Two Is A Crowd

Big piano driven slabs of pop-rock; we've been awash with it in the past decade - Keane, The Feeling and Mika all plying their own takes on it to varying degrees of success. But a new decade demands a new sound, and one that strikes at the very boundaries of the format. Enter Isaac's Aircraft - from the first track of their debut LP Two Is A Crowd they establish a refined, classy sound befitting their Cambridge roots. It's that same piano led rock, but it feels infinitely more ambitious.

Band member Martin Seidal is a classically trained pianist, and it shows. His chords take centre stage on the majority of the tracks, pulling together a sound that is distinctly British. The band have already had a top 10 internet radio hit over in the US, and what with the Brit-mania that seems to be spreading across America at the moment (Adele and the Royal Family, take a bow please) you can see why they'd take a band like Isaac's Aircraft to their hearts.

Mathematics and Good Man serve as snappy introductions to their record - there's a real unplugged feel here; a result of the band not being able to afford a fully electric album. This never feels like a compromise though, the quality across each and every track on Two Is A Crowd testament to their adaptability.

At times, the piano fades away to be replaced by carefully finger-picked guitar hooks; but the record never feels like an 'acoustic album' though. There is a real weight, a heftyness that elevates it beyond the cobled-together vibe that plagues so many bands' acoustic performances.

And although you'd be hard pushed to tell it, the whole album was remarkably recorded in just two days - Isaac's Aircraft are clearly a band who take efficiency to a whole new level. There's urgency and a real eagerness to please here. The word 'pleasant' comes to mind - but it's important to dismiss this as meaning average or unadventurous, because in a way the album's simplicity is adventure in its own right. It's refreshing to sample something of such clarity once in a while, and in terms of clarity, Two Is A Crowd is about as pure as you can get.

On the whole, the album remains mostly up-tempo, with a smattering of considered, tasteful ballads like Boogie In Boots thrown in. A personal favourite has to She Is Moscow though - a track with swagger to rival the likes of Robbie Williams, a real singer's song that boasts a definitively funky, driving beat.

Isaac's Aircraft come with the credentials of supporting Amy Winehouse and The Zutons on tour, and it is with the latter that they share a similar ear for melody. There's a dependability to the band, you know you can count on them to deliver. And speaking of which, a full electric album is due out in the autumn - which going by the strength of what we've heard here, we shall anticipate eagerly.

Two Is A Crowd is released on the 4th July.

Tatiana - Spider Web

Poland’s Tatiana will be looking to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Esmee Denters as she strikes out from her Euro-success to the UK. Single Spider Web is a classy, sparkling bit of Pixie Lott-esque pop and has been given airplay on Graham Norton’s Radio 2 show. It’s the kind of song that if it was an entry on the Eurovision song-contest, it’d come complete with some assortment of amazing costumes and accompanying dance spectacular. And it’d probably win too – and not because it’s cheesy – but because it’s really, really good.

Tatiana’s vocals play to their more delicate side for most of the song, but there’s a real strength hiding in there too with definite echoes of Anastacia. Her album, also titled Spider Web, sees her tackling a mix of Amy Winehouse style soul and Kylie-lite disco-pop. It’s a frisky little blend and those looking to sample something a little different from your Jessie J’s and Adele’s reigning supreme over the UK charts at the moment would do well to check it out.

Spider Web is released on the 18^th April.