Taylor Bleu readies debut EP Crayon Scars with new single devoted to a staircase

“This Staircase” is a love song inspired by the staircase where Bleu spent much of his childhood, self-soothing by tinkering with song ideas, and which has since become a recurring backdrop for the snippets he posts online. Bleu describes it in straightforward terms. “It represents the purest form of love,” he said. “It’s where I found stability, safety, and could be without judgement.”

The track follows earlier singles “Mad House” and “City of Angels”, both of which will appear on the EP. “Mad House” paired alt-R&B textures with a courageous look at mental health and systemic neglect, while “City of Angels” questioned faith and compassion with cinematic hip-hop production. Together, the songs map a coming-of-age that Bleu says he never intended to make public.

“This EP is about survival,” he said of the wider collection. “Crayon Scars isn’t just a body of work, for me it’s documented proof of the neglect and abuse I’ve been through which nobody can sugar-coat. I still find these songs hard to listen to, but the EP is hopeful and honest.”

Bleu grew up in South London in circumstances that made music a form of escapism rather than a career path. He sang a solo with a youth gospel choir at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls at nine years old, and later worked as an usher at the Royal Opera House, absorbing an inadvertent education in phrasing and tension while also acting as the sole carer in his family. For years, he actively tried to avoid becoming an artist, but Crayon Scars is the inevitable byproduct.

The EP pulls from a crate that Bleu says includes Sampha, James Blake, and Frank Ocean. Its songs are grounded in inner-city experience, toying with memory, fantasy and the kind of restorative light that only becomes visible after a long stretch of darkness.

Crayon Scars artwork