Poppy Ajudha’s debut EP cements her position as one of the most exciting artists around

The EP, entitled Femme, is a powerful statement of what the 22 year old is most passionate about and consciously explores Ajudha’s personal experiences of race, gender, and sexuality. Describing the purpose behind her explorations, Ajudha explains: “I want women to feel empowered, I want people of colour to feel their voices are heard or experiences shared and I hope that my music can help people to accept and love themselves in ways I am still learning to do.”

The EP features two new tracks that both reveal a side to Ajudha’s music that we haven’t yet seen. “Where Did I Go?” is a much more delicate track that acts as a nostalgic, stripped-back love song where Ajudha’s vocal ability is put at the forefront as it floats above dreamlike strings and a magical cupid-like harp. Yet, beneath its swooning production, Ajudha questions her position in a relationship and how it affected her personal growth when she allowed herself to get too comfortable and the sense of dilemma seems to grip her soaring vocals throughout.

“She Is The Sum” instead presents another side entirely to Ajudha’s catalogue. Powered by a strong bassline, this is a track that is intoxicatingly addictive and further illustrates Ajudha’s ability to meld a strong sense of purpose to stunning production. Speaking about the track, the South London singer says the song is meant to be a strong statement against stereotypes: “The song looks at opposing ideas which have been cemented into our brains throughout history that liken women and womanhood to ideas of both lust and desire and polarises the male/female binary to that of positive/negative, nature/culture and so on, dichotomies.”

Ajudha has always been a thoughtful artist, and with this EP she has further cemented herself as not only a truly exciting artist, but a powerful voice for change.