Rising Scottish songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Tamzene releases her debut single for major label, EMI.
Hailing from the coastal town of Cromarty in the Scottish Highlands, 24-year-old Tamzene is an ambitious songwriter and multi-instrumentalist that we have been following closely over the past few years.
Her dedication and talent has been recognised by, EMI, home to James Bay, Taylor Swift and Lewis Capaldi. The legendary label is releasing her debut single, the poignant “Called You Out” which is out now on all major streaming platforms.
The emotive “Called You Out” is her best release yet to showcase Tamzene’s sublime and soulful voice. Expect to hear this take over the airwaves in the coming days and weeks ahead.
Tamzene is a regular at Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival and also played on the King Tut’s stage at last year’s TRNSMT festival.
Released today alongside a stunning one-take live session, the track is the first taste of her debut EP, which will be arriving this spring. “Called You Out” was penned over Zoom in the summer of 2020 with producer Tobie Tripp (Stormzy, Joy Crookes) against a backdrop of racial injustice and worldwide protest. The track was a response to an online disagreement with a friend, sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Tamzene shares, “This is really important to me and I realised I couldn’t take people with me who didn’t want to put in the work to be better. The track is about not allowing your history with someone to blind you from seeing their true nature. It’s about accepting the moment you no longer want to be in someone’s life, because they simply don’t see you.”
Her influences are as wide-ranging as her heritage, and include the Scottish folk music of the Highlands, the reggae introduced to her by her half-Jamaican mother, and soul compilations her stepfather used to make. Years spent busking contemporary pop songs on the streets of Inverness and Leeds taught her the importance of killer hooks and powerful choruses; Tamzene’s vocals are bold and emotive, taking cues from pop contemporaries such as Adele and Alicia Keys as much as the classic voices of Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin.
The pandemic saw Tamzene return to the sleepy Highlands town of Cromarty and back to her childhood roots, resulting in the “Home Tapes project“, a stripped-back nostalgia-tinged 4-track demo. As well as having graced the stages of lauded festivals such as Latitude, TRNSMT, Eurosonic Noorderslag and Reeperbahn, Tamzene has recently played at King’s Cross’ Lafayette, Hackney’s Earth, even an impromptu set in New York City, and the summer will see her play more festivals such as Brixton’s Cross The Tracks and Brighton’s Great Escape.