NE HOT SEAT: LIZZIE ESAU

This week we’re continuing our brand new feature on Tipping Point – ‘NE Hot Seat’ – where we sit down with some of the region’s brightest talent on a monthly basis, shine a spotlight on their latest work and find out what they have planned next.

Next up we have Newcastle-based singer-songwriter Lizzie Esau, arriving hot on the heels of her indie rock anthem ‘Caffeine’ released last month to huge press acclaim (Dummy) and BBC Introducing support. Heavily inspired by the likes of Amy Winehouse, London Grammar and and Imogen Heap, Esau is building quite the reputation in the region and beyond, and with further new material and live shows on the way, we sat down to talk about her plans in a little more detail.

Tell us about yourself and your career so far?

I’m Lizzie Esau, a 21-year-old singer songwriter from Newcastle. I’ve been writing songs and singing for as long as I can remember really, there’s lots of old home videos of me putting on live shows and singing tunes I made up for family members from the age of around 5. It’s only really since I started working properly with my manager over the last few years that my music and all these ideas I was creating in my bedroom have been brought to life and put out for people to discover. I think now that we’re seemingly coming out of the pandemic more and live shows are picking up my favourite thing to do right now is just getting out and playing the songs live to people which has really helped develop my career too. Playing in the band is something that I’ve always envisaged for the music and I’m so glad I’m now able to do so.

What can you tell us about your latest releases?

My latest releases are really starting to solidify the musical direction for me. Being able to work within the band on tracks and bring them more to life in a live way is also really helping shape the project as a whole and bring things together. My most recent and upcoming releases are really delving into indie alternative pop and in some places rock which feels so authentic and right for where we’re at right now.

What inspires you most when it comes to creating music?

I’m mostly just inspired by everyday life and even the most mundane things lyrically, however, musically it’s a little more complicated sometimes and I can be inspired heavily by other music I’m loving at the time or certain sounds I’m messing about with in logic. But as well as this I often collaborate musically especially on my previous releases with Nottingham producer Steve Grainger who is a great multi-instrumentalist.

How did you find the recording process and how did it shape your sound?

Due to the pandemic recording and creating has been quite isolated but that’s in some ways pushed me to be more creative in ways especially when working over zoom with my producer. I think overall though while covid has made the whole process a struggle it’s really shaped the sound into a hybrid of influences from everyone involved and helped us create something new and exciting.

What else can we expect from you this year?

You can expect exciting releases and lots more live shows which we’re so looking forward to! I’m so ecstatic about everything we have planned and we’ve got so many new things we can’t wait to share! I think it’s so important to keep up the momentum as we’re starting to build a little following. I’m so proud right now of what we’re all creating and can’t wait to share it all as I really don’t think it’s what people might expect and we’re heading in such an exciting direction! Lots of cool things coming up in the new year also that it would be great to keep an eye out for too!

Where can we find you on socials and keep up to date on developments?

You can find me on Instagram (@lizzieesau) and on Facebook/YouTube and all major streaming platforms by typing in, Lizzie Esau.

Photo credit: Victoria Wai

Check out Lizzie Esau’s favourite acts from the region in her personally curated playlist below.

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