Lois: "I want to be the voice I needed, and I want to try and be the voice for other young women"

The ̶m̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶b̶r̶e̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ waking of an artist revitalised - Lois reintroduced, independent and ready to leave her mark.

By Tom Adams August 2025

"I trust myself a lot more now, I know what I want to say..."

As the clock chimed midnight to strike the transition to Friday 15th August, it also marked a monumental moment of transformation for Lois Kyle. Shedding the skin of her former self and embracing regeneration, Lois' new era has officially begun. SEVEN, her sophomore EP - and first release as an independent artist - has arrived and with a whole new sense of identity and style. Having laid the foundations two years prior with her debut EP, Strange Men delved into expressing themes of trauma and individuality. SEVEN on the other hand is a body of work redefining the past and here to kickstart a new age of chaotic liberation.

But up until now, it's been quite the whirlwind introduction into the industry for the Morecambe-born songwriter. Having moved out at just sixteen, professionally signed at nineteen, then dropped by her label in late 2023, I couldn't help but admire just how much determination she's already shown even before we began our Zoom call earlier in the week. But right from the off it didn't take me long to realise her long-time love for the arts meant she was always going to break into the scene one way or another.

"I remember writing songs ever since I was about twelve, although they often started out as poetry. But I'd always wanted to do something creative like: music, acting, art or dance, I just wasn't sure which one. I actually went to study at LIPA - which is the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts founded by Paul McCartney. I moved out when I was sixteen to go to sixth form there, and I was in university accommodation with other sixteen and eighteen years olds, it was wild! During that time I fell in love with Madonna and Prince so when I discovered the Purple Rain album, that really changed everything for me."

"My dad has always been a massive influence on me and my music taste. He's a big music fan too and introduced me to artists like: Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Van Halen and Queen. It's funny because when I went to audition at LIPA, I actually told my parents that I'd gone for the acting course because I'd always done acting, drama clubs and pantomimes, but I'd actually auditioned for the music course. To be honest it's because I wasn't sure whether I'd get in but I auditioned anyway and got it! I think from that point I became obsessed and never put the idea down. I knew music was what I wanted to do forever and I want to make people feel how that Purple Rain album made me feel. Saying that, I'd still absolutely love to do some TV and film acting one day though, but that's for another time."

I wanted to ask Lois about a certain video she posted to her Instagram in February earlier this year. It was a recording of her minutes before taking the call with her label that would go on to result in her being dropped, in addition to showing the aftermath of that moment. The video was something she never imagined sharing, however using it as a catalyst and an example of progressing from rejection, it now seemed considerably more like a waking of what would come next in her own narrative.

"Oh wow that video! I remember I was having a meeting with the manager and things had felt weird so I thought I'm gonna record this because regardless of what happens, I feel like it's an important moment I need to film for myself so I could look back on it. I guess it was a form of manifestation, I got dropped but knowing this isn't where it's going to end. Initially the whole next thing for me was to prove them wrong and show them that it wasn't going to affect me but now it's less proving stuff to anyone and more trusting myself. Back then, I'd have a set of songs I'd send them and they'd give me their opinions, whereas now I'm my own critic and I have to decipher which songs are gonna work and which songs maybe aren't right. At the start that was really hard because I couldn't tell the difference between a good and bad song or if I was being too self critical, but now I've tuned it better for myself."

"When I first got signed, I felt like I'd completely fooled people because I thought oh my god, I'm gonna actually have to become a musician now like I've fooled them that I can actually do this. I think it was probably massive imposter syndrome to be honest. That moment was still huge and especially at that age it opened up opportunities for things I'd never done before like music videos, photoshoots, having physical CDs and cassettes so it was probably one of the best experiences I've had. But realistically at nineteen I was just a baby going through all of that. Looking back, it made me realise how much I was listening to other people's ideas of me and how they saw me as an artist, and I wasn't listening so much to myself."

"When I got dropped, I kind of knew it was coming because I'd kind of veered away slightly from the mainstream pop stuff and wanted to do something different and delve into my lyrics more as that's always my main focus. The lyrics come first and then the melody comes in afterwards. The label wanted to go one direction and I wanted to go another so there was a bit of friction so we parted ways. At first I thought what the hell am I going to do like I've got no financial backing or no team. It was such a luxury for nineteen year old me to be given that opportunity so I almost had to relearn the industry from the ground up again but I'm so glad that happened because I wouldn't be able to do the things I've done now like form my own team and make music videos with friends. I even went to the market with my neighbour and we bought a load of fabrics to style me - I think it's so much better to make your own team of people you trust, so ultimately I think being dropped was a blessing in disguise. Plus all my favourite artists have been dropped anyway so it's just part of the process isn't it."

Exactly twenty six months ago, Lois released Strange Men, signing off a incredibly personal chapter of her life. Before we jumped ahead to chat about the new record, I was intrigued to ask her about how she views her first EP two years on.

"I remember at the time feeling incredibly nervous to release it because the things I was writing about weren't very nice. It just felt like something that if I truly wanted to start this journey as an artist, I kind of needed to get everything out first and this EP felt very much like okay this is what has happened, here is my history, and then from there it felt a bit of a launchpad for me to then be free to speak on what had happened. I think when I decided I wanted to be an artist, my main thing was about being honest and I spent a lot of time trying to create a caricature that I'd become separating Lois the artist from Lois day-to-day but I'm just not good at that. I just want to be this weird, normal person that I am and I think that EP definitely showed that and gave people a place to listen to help them through tough situations as that's what I needed when I was younger. I do look back on it fondly but I do feel like now I have that out the way, I'm ready to take on a new era now."

And that new era, as of today, is fully underway. SEVEN maintains the confessional style of her discography providing an escape and a means of expression, with the added exuberance of "queer pop to strut down the street to" (as commented by a close friend on Instagram). For Lois, it represents much more. It's a body of work representing the reclamation of herself, whilst serving as a powerful voice of hope for young women.

"The Strange Men EP was me talking about how I felt like my body had been taken away from me as a result of the experiences I went through. Then this EP, in particular the songs 'MINE' and 'PHOENIX', are about not wanting to live in a world where that had to define who I was for the rest of my life, and because those experiences had happened, that wouldn't determine that I was going to be this broken thing."

"I was reading up about the seven year rule which is basically after seven years the top layer of your skin regenerates entirely so it's not the same skin you had seven years ago. I was looking back at the things that had happened in my life and realised I don't have the same skin that I had back then and it made me feel so liberated and gave me a whole new sense of self. Even though it's just skin, I really did feel like I could shed that past version of myself and I could step into a new one and not be determined by what has happened to me so this EP really is about reclaiming that and feeling confident in my own skin again. I want to be the voice I needed when I wrote Strange Men and I want to try and be the voice for other young women that might be in a similar situation."

Now based in West Yorkshire, Lois spoke about how the EP was actually two years in the making. Written and recorded in between Leeds and London, the record was made with a new team of producers and writers that complemented her creative process perfectly.

"The day I got dropped I was messaging friends, producers and songwriters to ask if we could do sessions because I didn't wanna let that one setback stop me. I also just really wanted to write with different people to learn and see how they write and see what their creative processes are. I did that for about six months which was the time I met Scott Verrill from Good Neighbours and Pura Bliss, and we wrote the title track 'SEVEN'. It was just really fun, I was writing without pressure, plus this time I wanted to make music that would make people let go and dance. The creative process was a lot more self-reflective and mostly me writing on my own and then bringing it to sessions like the songs 'PHOENIX' and 'APRIL SHOWERS' I wrote with Jules - who is now one of my best friends - and he also co-produced 'MINE' and 'SEVEN' as well."

"There have been times before where I'd have ideas and because I was a young woman I wasn't always listened to but I was young so I often just went with it and thought they probably knew better than I did. For example, I'd been playing this song on piano the night before and I got into this session with Jules the next day and my mind went completely blank. I sat there thinking he's going to get annoyed but he just gave me the space I needed to relax and then of course it came back to me. I just felt so comfortable with him, whenever we write together it feels like it comes so naturally so writing with him really changed things for me. I trust myself a lot more now, I know what I want to say and I've surrounded myself with good people that have given me the space and feel safe."

Lois also briefly mentioned that the final track on the record, 'APRIL SHOWERS' almost failed to even make it on the EP altogether. It's now her (current) favourite and is a product of the new progressive and patient writing style that went into the making of SEVEN.

"We'd finished the whole EP and then I had these chords on guitar I was playing to Jules, thinking there's definitely something in this. We got to the end of that week and we'd already finished all the songs and then I started playing those chords again and we just proceeded to write 'APRIL SHOWERS' in about an hour or so and both immediately thought it had to go on the EP so it did!"

Now, with two EPs to her name, Lois has also already developed an impressive list of live appearances. Supporting the likes of The Lottery Winners, SOFY, Pixey, Tom Rasmussen, and Phoebe Green, in addition to her own headline gigs and 'Strange Men' making BBC Introducing track of the week, her face seemed to light up the more I read each one back to her.

"Playing live is my absolute favourite thing in the world, I just wanna make albums and tour them forever! Actually, playing live and songwriting are my two favourite things ever. I love my band so much, we all met at university so we've been playing together for four years now. I'd think performing is already amazing, but doing it with your best friends is like a different experience altogether. We all just get it and I think there's a mutual understanding of what I've been through personally so they know when I sing these songs it's like we all feel it together."

"Playing Kendal Calling last week was really good, I enjoyed that one. But as well, I remember we supported The Lottery Winners back in 2022 at the Albert Hall in Manchester and I've seen so many of my favourite artists there so for me to play it was crazy. I think it was like my first taste of a proper big stage and seeing a sea of thousands of people there, I couldn't help but think this was exactly what I wanted to do and this was where I wanted to be. They also really took a chance on us for that one as I think it was probably like my fourth gig or something so to play that was so fun. I'd probably say that was my favourite live performance so far."

As we approached the end of our call, I couldn't not ask Lois about Project Phoenix. Launched as her passion project in March, it exists as a community led event to bring together musicians and local artists to raise money for charities supporting women and gender minorities. Project Phoenix is partnered with SASHA (Students Against Sexual Harassment & Assault) and is working towards dismantling the culture of sexual violence on university campuses. The project's very first event sold out the Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds back in April, which helped raise money for women and those who identify as non-binary for Basis Yorkshire.

"Project Phoenix came about from my love of music and art, and having a lot of friends that are also artists. I wanted to turn my bad experience into something positive as well as something that can bring people together. I get messages from people about Strange Men and sometimes it shocks me at just how many messages I get from people that relate to it. It seems that a lot of us have had these experiences. Even when I talk to my girlfriends about things that have happened to us in our lifetime, it feels like every single one of us have been through something and we just have to shrug it off. I wanted to create a space that could bring people together that all have a mutual understanding of each other, all have a love for music, for art, for helping local creatives by bringing them all together. One thing about doing this EP independently was realising just how important having a network of creatives is. For me because I work as a barrister on the side, everyone at work is either a musician or artist or painter or a photographer, and I couldn't help but think there's this incredible hub of creative people around me. Plus, for other artists coming up that don't have that then this could be so great for them to come and network."

"But as well as that side of things, I also thought it'd just be so lovely to be able to support local charities in Leeds and West Yorkshire that support women and just uplift people in different ways. The next one we're planning to do is to raise funds for someone's top surgery which will be amazing! It was just something I felt wasn't being done as much or enough in Leeds, and I wanted to use what I know and the people I have to create a scene that other people could latch onto to do their own thing with and collectively support a great cause and I'm so, so proud of that."