Zemmy Momoh

Hometown: London
Lineup: Zemmy Momoh
For fans of: Sia, Lauryn Hill, Florence Welch
Key track: ‘Brittle Pieces’
See her live: Thursday 8 August, St Pancras Old Church, London
Connect: Facebook | SoundCloud | Twitter | Website

Last week, as we’re sure you’re eye-bleedingly aware, Drenge were name-dropped in okay-not-to-hate Labour MP, Tom Watson’s front bench resignation letter. The Sheffield noise-rock duo offered a fairly tepid response to the Glasto-going politician’s praise and their subsequent splashing over tabloid pages and even awful C4 game show Million Pound Drop, with the Loveless brothers preferring people to discover their music organically.

That’s cool, celebrity endorsements aren’t for everyone, but what if one of your songs was the first public activity – a repost to be specific – registered on a certain Kanye West’s brand spanking new SoundCloud account? London-based chanteuse Zemmy Momoh knows just the strange sensation.

Having finally found the source of latest track, ‘Brittle Pieces’s skyrocketing plays – via a dedicated Yeezy forum - the account operating under Kanye West’s name was confirmed officially after Zemmy dug a little deeper and contacted SoundCloud bigwig Eric Wahlforss, as well as Kanye’s old management company, who both gave her the green-light to go absolutely nuts.

Drawing on classic soul, contemporary RnB and outright pop, Zemmy’s ‘Brittle Pieces’ documents the feeling of total despondency when a lover decides to move on. Backed by simple production, spindly heartstrung pianos and a tenderly caressed acoustic guitar, Zemmy’s dusky voice floats featherlike, in spite of the rather more bruising subject matter.

The Nigerian-born vocalist has an album in the offing and plans to tour the UK in the short-term; whether her brief affiliation with Kanye proves to be more than just pure coincidence or haphazard from the Yeezus rapper remains to be seen. For now we’ll happily cherish and share the unblemished beauty of ‘Brittle Pieces’.