NEW SINGLE : Anna Leone (Radio 1, 6 Music, Paul Butler) | new single + video

I’ve usually been alone in my music videos, this is the first time I’ve worked with other people on-screen. It was interesting to depict loneliness in a different way. How people can be close together but still feel disconnected and how it can be a challenge to reach out in isolation. It definitely wasn’t made with a quarantine situation in mind but it ended up being strangely reflective of the times.

The building we were in turned out to be an abandoned hospital, and it was a night shoot, which combined made for a pretty special atmosphere. Nearly everything in the video was filmed with a large crane camera which went in and out of the windows, it was almost like a character in itself.

Now 26 – still shy, but determined to connect, Anna grew up the quietest of five sisters in a suburb of Stockholm. An introverted video game and sci-fi obsessive, Anna fast developed her own rich inner life, absorbed in the storytelling DC and Marvel. It’s an escape she seeks comfort from now;  I love losing myself in other universes, they give me a sense of belonging. Similarly, Leone bought a guitar with no other intention beyond privately perfecting treasured releases by the likes of Bon Iver, Lana Del Rey and Laura Marling. 

Demonstrating a facility for emotionally resonant song-writing of her own, Anna’s music was first released by a French music producer & owner of French indie label Half Awake, who had been told how good her music sounded. He saw their potential to connect instantly, that her songs deserved to break out of their physical confines. Battling against the debilitating stage fright which is still present today, Leone has found a fast-growing international audience which continues to stretch far, far beyond the four walls of her teenage bedroom.