This year, Chloe Qisha has seemingly been looking to the past, and the future. The hotly-tipped artist’s pop stylings are a dedicated love letter to nostalgia, equipped with the classic synth driven backing, and quippy lyricism that proves to be as chic as it is playful. Paired with her cinematic visuals, the last year has seen Qisha turn heads on social media, the movie-star stylings feeling perfectly fitting for the burgeoning artist. Qisha sits now, smiling as she reminisces playing The Great Escape’s First Fifty event. “It was an amazing end of the year show. I couldn’t have been happier with the crowd, they were great,” she tells me. “Gigs are an amazing excuse to hang out with my wonderful band,” she laughs. “I’m obsessed with them, so I’ll take any chance I get.”

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Despite such an effortless demour, Qisha’s venture into music is still in its early stages, with her first self-titled EP coming out mid-November. But, as she recounts, the artist’s last year has felt like a stepping stone in an ongoing journey. “I started posting covers on YouTube when I was in my first year of uni – I mean like really horrendous covers on YouTube,” she admits while blushing slightly. “I was studying psychology at the time, and thought I was going to be a therapist for a hot second. Very quickly realised that I was not emotionally stable enough to be anyone’s therapist!”

“A few years later I got randomly contacted by a label and went for a meeting with them knowing nothing about the industry,” she continues. “I got into some sessions and kept at it for like, a year or two but never fully committed.” There’s a slight pause. “I didn’t know that music was ever an option for me, I think the industry can be such a mystery to the general public,” she points out. “Then COVID happened – it threw me into a really weird space with music. But through it I sort of ended up clawing my way back to it in the end.” She seems reflective, as if just discovering a truth in that moment. “I think I realised that I could write songs, and if the songs feel authentic to me, call them mine,” she smiles softly.

Through years of songwriting experience, Qisha has managed to craft a nostalgia tinged sound that still feels authentically her own – largely due to her quick witted lyricism that becomes a cornerstone for her music. As she divulges, it was that particular skill that could only be perfected from practice. “It was definitely an evolution,” she admits when asked about her writing process. “I think it’s funny that we’ve ended up coming to this process from more of a storytelling world,” she continues. “When I first started off, I thought the most important thing was to make the track catchy. But I’m glad that I didn’t start off that way, because it gave me the good foundations to keep at the back of my mind. I think now when I write, I try to be a  storyteller – and that’s definitely come from writing with Rob (Milton), my collaborator,” she beams. “He’s such a strong writer and has a way of drawing stories  out of the artist that he’s like working. He really strives for the best, which I definitely needed because lyrics were actually my least strongest aspect of writing before I met him. I think our brains mesh in the right way  – nothing’s off the table in our sessions.”

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While her writing style leans on conjuring up narratives, Qisha’s sonic leanings focus on moments of musical history. “I’m definitely more influenced by the past,” she answers. “My references, at least right now, are very focused on nostalgia. They seem like polar opposites, but it can be anything from Abba to LCD Soundsystem – it’s that breadth of sound that I love. But I do have modern references too, like Sabrina Carpenter’s recent album. I love the way that she’s just been able to express so many emotions so cohesively across the record. It feels very empowering.”

However, the attention to detail doesn’t stop with the music. From simply scanning Qisha’s music videos and socials, it becomes apparent how refined the visual aspect is to her artistry. Red and black make up the colour palette, with Qisha adorning suits, movie theatre settings and a classic red lip to build an image of a Twin Peaks-esque universe. When asked about the visuals, her eyes seem to spark. “The music always comes first,” she begins. “But honestly, the visuals were almost just as important for me. I have a creative director, Lillie Eiger who’s the most incredible human being. When first planning the EP, we would be sitting in the British library together and she burrowed into my mind – we ended up talking about the most random topics, and it really helped tie all of my crazy ideas together.”

She divulges her preliminary vision, which is one of the first aspects of the release she thought up. “I knew I wanted red as one of the primary colours,” she explains. “I also wanted suits to be a big part of the visual aspect- basically the main costume of this world. The idea was to tap into slightly more masculine energy and that like naturally I have in my everyday life, to then play with and contrast with my feminine side. Lillie amalgamated all of these ideas together so when it came to shooting the artwork and the music videos, like we had this visual Bible to stick to,” she laughs. “It paid off in the end- I think everything does look really, really cohesive and that’s my main thing because I’m a perfectionist,” she says with a smirk.

Having such a precise vision has resulted in one of the most exciting debut’s to come out of the UK music scene this year. Qisha’s self-titled EP is one that plays with dynamics, lyricism and style with an effortlessly chic demeanor, resulting in a bundle of praise from critics and fans alike. When talking, Qisha still seems somewhat surprised by such a reaction. “You always hope people will like the music of course,” she spills. “But it’s a whole different feeling when people are actually reaching out to say they liked it. The human connection that you get when people DM and say they love Evelyn or Scary Movie- especially because they were like last to come out – feels so surreal and so amazing.”

The reception seems to have served as fuel for an even bigger peak for Qisha to hit in 2025. She relaxes as she tells me of her plans for the new year, and the anticipation it brings. “Hopefully, I hope to do so many more shows, that’s always been like a big sort of bucket, bucket list thing for me,” she explains. “But for sure the music will come hard and fast! There is no break in the Chloe Qisha world,” she states mysteriously, teasing new possible releases. “There’s too many songs and they all need to be released, which is an amazing problem to have. It’ll be coming a lot sooner than I think a lot of people think, which is exciting,” she grins. No matter what comes next for Qisha, the consensus is clear – she’s got a vision to make it the brightest it can be.

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Stay in touch with Chloe Qisha on Instagram.

Words: Lily Blakeney-Edwards
Photo Credit: Lillie Eiger

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