Swedish singer and producer Becky & The Birds has released her debut single ‘Holding On’.

Becky & The Birds is the moniker of Thea Gustafsson, the 21-year-old from Örebro who writes, produces and sings all of her own music and attended the prestigious Musikmakarna Songwriters Academy of Sweden, which kickstarted the careers of LÉON and Skott.

Thea has already clocked up millions of streams as a topline vocalist in high profile collaborations, however these relentless sessions with all-male producers began to grate on her. “I always had this voice inside me—society’s voice—that was like ‘No, you can’t, ‘cos you’re a girl, that’s for the boys’” she explains.

“I was like, I can’t do this any more—having all these dudes mansplaining, sitting with their spread legs,” Thea says. “I was just so frustrated. When you have a really clear vision yourself, it’s difficult to compromise.

At one particularly bad session with a producer – “I felt the whole panic that you feel when you think you’re not good enough“ – it led her to develop a whole new guise; Becky & The Birds.

Taking responsibility for production, Becky & The Birds sees Thea in full control of her work, rejecting the pop saturated sound of her native Sweden and resulting in a true-to-self, multifaceted project.

“Becky & The Birds new single ‘Holding On’ is interesting because the lead vocal is strong and at times makes me think of Lianne La Havas. However, the high-pitched chorus is a bit grating over a bright electronic sample/keyboard backing. For a debut single this is a decent track to introduce the world to Becky & The Birds but I would like to hear something that puts her voice at the forefront with say just a piano.” – Glenn Sargeant Just Listen To This

You can listen to ‘Holding On’ on Spotify and Soundcloud.

Glenn Sargeant