Born in London and raised variously by Singaporean grandparents, a teenage mother and Irish-Scottish father (both hippies at the time), Aya had all the makings of a true Boho-London-mutt. Music was omnipresent - something was always on the radio: Chinese opera, Jimi Hendrix, Nick Drake, and Patrice Rushen, to name just a few. There began her l...
show full description »
Born in London and raised variously by Singaporean grandparents, a teenage mother and Irish-Scottish father (both hippies at the time), Aya had all the makings of a true Boho-London-mutt. Music was omnipresent - something was always on the radio: Chinese opera, Jimi Hendrix, Nick Drake, and Patrice Rushen, to name just a few. There began her lifelong passion for music; she started singing at the age of four. At the age of eighteen she left London for New York City, the music capital that had attracted so many of her heroes.
In New York, she grew as an artist, collaborating with and writing songs for Lenny Kravitz (“Thinking of You”, released as a single from his album 5), and Pharcyde (“Lab Cabin California”). Both went gold. Soon after, she started making tracks with Stuart Matthewman (famed Sade guitarist and songwriter) and is featured on seven tunes on his Sweetback album.
As mutual friends of Stuart Matthewman and Itaal Shur (the Grammy winning songwriter), it seemed inevitable that Aya should eventually meet producer Jay Denes (AKA Blue Six), the co-founder Naked Music. Their first collaboration resulted in the underground classic “Sweeter Love”. Encouraged by its success and sharing with Jay a desire to make “pure music”, signing to Naked was a natural next step. The result, more than a year in the making, is Aya’s solo debut - a record full of dreams, solitude, longing and memories. It’s unashamedly beautiful music, the “3 A.M. of some imagined endless summer”.
« hide full description