Hot Press Hot For 2020 artist Joy Crookes ups the ante with 'Anyone But Me', a gorgeous strings-drenched tune which finds the neo soulster singing with great candour about her mental health.
Crookes, whose mother is Bangladeshi and dad from the Navan Road, was the first topper of the BBC Asian Music Chart with the Jafaris-assisted 'Early'. It's racked up 26 weeks in all, most of them at number one.
"I’ve suffered from mental health issues since I was young," she says of her latest tune. "Where I grew up, this wasn’t a topic you would bring up when your mum was fixing you a plate of dal or when your mates were showing you how to flirt with boys and girls, so when I had my first episode of depression I didn’t really know where to turn to. It’s taken me a long time, and I am still learning how to completely articulate what goes on in my mind. Being able to have these important conversations with my friends and then my family has been challenging and I guess that’s why I always turned to music. Music has a way to soften the blow with topics like mental health - it can make situations that seem completely out of reach, tangible - especially when you feel like you’re living with another version of yourself. Learning to be more open, I had a conversation with my best friend who pointed out that when we are dealing with depression and anxiety - we almost become tired of constantly being with ourselves - you want to be with anyone BUT yourself. This is the position I took when I wrote ‘Anyone But Me’. The lyrics speak for themselves. I hope we can all continue breaking down boundaries that stretch between generations and cultures and continue this conversation about how we really feel.”