Jacoténe: “It’s my responsibility to be honest, even though being honest is hard"

It’s Jacoténe’s world, and we’re all living in it. At just 19 years old, the Melbourne-born singer-songwriter rose to fame through social media with powerful and soulful vocals that quickly gained comparisons with the likes of Adele and Amy Winehouse.

Having just released her stellar debut EP, Untitled (Read My Mind), Jacoténe – real name Chelsea Jacotine – is definitely on the crest of a wave. Having worked with legendary producers like Salaan Remi and Jay Moon, what did the singer take from the experience?

“I learned to be more confident,” she observes. “Writing sessions are very weird things: you are going in with a new person, and you’re talking about yourself as if you had known this person for 20 years. And what it taught me is that once you have something you want to say, give it all. Believe in what you want.”

This idea she learned both from her collaborators, and from the various cities she has visited through recording and writing, like Los Angeles, Miami, and most importantly, “with the people my age here, in London.

“That is why I always say that for creatives, and for music, London’s the place,” Jacoténe continues. “I have never felt this inspired in my life. The one thing traveling has really taught me is that you can always go a step further. It’s really pushed me to become more adventurous.”

In the past year, the musician has worked in studios all over the world, and played endless headline and support gigs. These have included openers for both G FLIP and Tems in Australia, and Pa Salieu in London. With a busy summer of European festivals on the horizon, does Jacoténe have a sufficient support system to help her through such enormous change?”

“The people I think of are my parents and my brother – my whole family,” she says. “Not many people have that. I definitely did see a shift in high school, when new things were popping up for me. You could just see that sometimes it didn’t sit well with other people.

“It was new to me to see that shift, when such great things were happening, and the energy wasn’t being reciprocated. I thank my family for stepping in and doubling their support, so that I didn’t even realise people who were once there no longer were.”

On her new EP, Jacoténe explores a number of heavy themes through soulful, sometimes gospel-inspired soundscapes, touching on subjects like heartbreak, identity, change and, vitally, her own faith.

“I have always felt very protected by my faith,” she says, “and I always used to sing and talk a lot about it. When you listen to Lauryn Hill songs, people have their own perspective, when she’s really talking about God. I find there’s a safety in that for me.

“Other music that was always played in the house was Michael Jackson, Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Alicia Keys. These are very powerful and soulful voices. When I was in primary school in Australia, I used to sing in choirs and do musicals. I believe it all had a part in my music.”

A number of tracks, such as ‘What Did I Do?’, are boldly flavoured with grandiose orchestral strings. Created in collaboration with the Czech Film Orchestra, I ask how these arrangements came about.

“I mean, strings are never a problem,” laughs Jacoténe. “I remember when they were recorded, I was in Australia on a 3am video call. They were recording strings and I was like, ‘Guys, this is the greatest thing of all time. I really need to go to bed, I’m going delirious.

“But I remember I woke my Mom and Dad up, and I was like, ‘You guys need to hear this’. We sat on my bed, just looking at each other, and we got chills. That was the first experience where I had ever been able to listen to live strings, and I’m excited for the day where I get to do it live.”

Throughout Untitled (Read My Mind), the young musician shows an incredible amount of vulnerability. Previously, she admitted she uses songwriting to work through intense periods of change and internal struggle.

“I wrote this EP when I was in high school and still living in Australia,” she reflects. “Travel had started to pick up and friendships started to change. I mean, everyone goes through change no matter what stage of life they’re at.

“People change jobs, graduate, get married. But that change, for me, looked like moving overseas, finishing high school and figuring out what my next chapter looked like. And that’s just an uncomfortable feeling.”

Does she ever feel any discomfort about the idea of being so vulnerable?

“I understand it’s my responsibility to be honest,” says Chelsea. “Even though being honest is hard. But it’s the reason for music.”

• Untitled (Read My Mind) is out now.