Perrie: “I wanted my album to feel 100% authentic, true to me, even autobiographical at some points”

Perrie Edwards has been through it all.

At only 17, she auditioned for The X Factor and won with a little group by the name of Little Mix. For the next 10 years, the band released six albums and became one of Britain’s best-selling acts. They ushered in the girl group renaissance and when they took a hiatus in 2022, each had thoroughly earned their pop royalty status.

But anyone who thinks Perrie is inseparable from Little Mix has not been paying attention. After the group disbanded, the women pursued solo projects, both musically and entrepreneurially. Perrie has plenty to boast about: she sat comfortably on the Sunday Times Rich List for two consecutive years, founded an inclusive luxury fashion brand, advocated for mental health and signed a contract with Columbia Records.

With her debut solo album Perrie out to the world as of last month, she is reminding everyone why she deserves her crown. But do note, Queen Perrie is not out of touch with the music scene, especially not the Irish one. She names Jedward as her favourite Irish act and loves trad (“It really comforts my soul,” she explains).

“I remember being in Dublin on tour and every road I walked down, there was live music from these incredible buskers,” she says. “In my experience, you sometimes get a few dodgy buskers here and there, but I feel like in Ireland that doesn’t exist. They’re unbelievable. I would stand there for ages watching the whole set, and I remember just going from street to street, thinking, ‘This is insane’. The talent in Ireland is so cool, and all the bars and pubs you have there, they all have amazing live music as well. Ireland is the place for music.”

Back to the album. It’s a masterpiece, of course. But this wasn’t the first iteration of it.

“I was listening to the first version of my album and I just thought, this doesn’t feel like it’s me. It doesn’t feel authentic. It doesn’t feel genuine,” she explains. “Like, yes, there are songs on there that are still there now, that I wrote before, or that I had that I really felt a connection with. But a lot of the songs were not there for me. And that’s not what I wanted for my album.”

Given all she’s been through in her 14-year career, she deserves an LP she loves – but what does that mean?

“I wanted my album to feel 100% authentic, true to me, even autobiographical at some points,” she describes. “I decided to go with my gut, and my gut said the first album wasn’t quite right. I took a break, and I started writing again just after New Year’s Day. I was itching to get back into the studio after my little break. I started writing some amazing songs, and I just felt like they were me. It was me coming through the music, and me coming through the lyrics. I felt so much better. It was scary taking a break, but I’m glad I did.”

The at-home studio in question is called The La La Room – well, sort of.

“It’s actually called Studio 22, but when I started making my album and recording in there, my son would just call it The La La Room and that kind of stuck,” she says with a laugh.

Her son is a big fan of her music. As she tells it, her son and her husband (footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) recently went to play golf and returned singing the tracklist of Perrie.

“I was like, ‘Have you been listening to my music?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, we listened to your album in the car.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, I love that,’” she explains. “I love that he loves my music. It makes me really happy, because he’s only into the Spiderman and Harry Potter theme tunes at the moment, so I’m up there with the greatest.”

Back to the studio. She describes it as “a really cosy vibe” and says she makes sure everyone feels as at home as she does.

“It’s my home, but it’s home for other people as well,” she says. “I pride myself that when writers and producers come there, they feel really calm. I make them feel very at home, very at ease. I give them lots of snacks, lots of drinks. I love that they love it and I love the fact that we’ve made my whole album from home.”

So, the album. More specifically, the process of creating the album. We all know Perrie has a voice like God’s favourite angel, but she has quite the knack for instruments as well; and as much as she loves playing them, she loves listening to them.

“I played a little bit of guitar on the album, and the piano I played was this beautiful grand piano,” she describes. “I spent a day in London doing the live strings and the orchestra for ‘Miss You’ and that was honestly unbelievable. I went there and didn’t know what to expect. Obviously, I love the sound of live music, but when you hear an orchestra playing one of your songs and bringing it to life, it brings all the emotion to the surface.”

‘Miss You’ is one of the most stirring songs on the album, though one might not consider it to be a typically cinematic, orchestra-driven track. Of course, this was entirely intentional.

“It sounds grand and it’s very subtle in the mix,” she says. “Like, when you listen to ‘Miss You’, it’s not an over-the-top grand orchestra piece, but you can definitely hear it. Just that little touch of it makes you feel like, wow. I love an orchestra. I’m glad we got to do that, it makes it sound so beautiful.”

Another heavily emotional song is ‘Same Place, Different View’, a contemplation of the loss of a friendship. It’s a textbook reminder of Perrie’s skill for poignant lyricism.

“We talk about relationships breaking down as in romantic relationships, but we don’t often talk about friends that we no longer have in our lives, and how that’s just as heartbreaking as losing a partner,” she explains. “Every time I hear it and every time my family hear it, we all cry. It sounds silly because I wrote the song and I’ve heard it a million times, but it still chokes me up to this day when I put it on.”

For anyone who has yet to listen to the track: be prepared to cry along with her. The singer says that in the studio, she didn’t want “a big Perrie vocal show” full of stacked harmonies like she’s used to.

“That’s my bread and butter, I love that. But with this one, I wanted it to be really intimate – like, scary intimate. I wanted it to just be my voice, the whole way. There’s maybe a few harmonies at the end, but I did that on purpose, because I wanted it to be like you’re sucked in and you’re just hearing the story of the lyrics.”

Perrie’s “bread and butter” is the joy of performing, she says. How does she feel about performing these songs live?

“It’s going to be epic. I feel like a lot of the time I was writing these songs, I was thinking about how they would go down live. The ballads will be such a moment, and the upbeat feel-good, energetic songs will just get everyone going. It’ll be such good vibes. Hopefully I get to tour with this album.”

Perrie is undoubtedly at the top of her class in performances. But after years with Little Mix, one has to wonder what it’s like flying solo.

“I thought that would be the thing I’d struggle with most,” she explains. “Because having the support of the girls, it’s almost like when you’re performing, not all eyes are on you, because they’re on all of us. But I love performing, it’ s just magical.”

When it comes to girl groups, there are all the old favourites – Little Mix, of course, but also Fifth Harmony, Destiny’s Child, TLC – but Gen Z readers may have one particular name in mind. Perrie said it before I even finished asking the question.

“I love Katseye,” she says of the LA pop sensations. “I’m obsessed with them. I can’t get enough, I will never skip a Katseye video.”

As a former member of one of the blueprint girl groups of pop history, what would she tell those girls?

“My advice would be, because they’re quite young, to stick together,” she says. “Have it out with each other and enjoy the ride, even though it’s going to be chaos and crazy. I’m sure they’re working very, very hard as I did. Their team will get them to work, no doubt. But yeah, hopefully they’re all happy. They’re such lovely girls. They deserve the best.”

They do. And so does Perrie. Life has not been easy to her – between multiple health scares, the stress of touring and the vulnerability of going solo – but she’s graceful, resilient and prepared.

“I’m very excited to have my music out there in this album,” she affirms. “Even though I’m scared and it’s a bit daunting, I’m relieved. I feel like I’ve waited for this moment for a very long time. What I’ve been working towards, and what I’ve put so much effort into, is my album coming out. I absolutely love it, and hopefully everybody loves it too.”

Perrie is out now, and Perrie is releasing it with her heart on her sleeve.

“I hope you resonate with a lot of the lyrics and the concepts, and that you feel seen, and I hope it’s an album you listen to on repeat,” she tells readers.

This is the age of Perrie – and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome it.

Perrie is out now.