Ella Eyre wants to bring a party to Brighton Pride

The 24-year-old Londoner burst onto the scene after a collaboration with Rudimental on Waiting All Night, in 2013, garnered critical acclaim, hitting the top of the UK singles charts.

She had previously featured on Bastille’s cover of No Scrubs, originally performed by TLC, but it was this song that put her name out as one to watch.

December of 2013 saw Ella release her debut EP and she followed that up with being named runner-up in the BRIT Critic’s Choice Award.

After a steady stream of single releases, it was 2017 when Ella really staked her claim as one of country’s finest talents. Her collaboration with Sigala on Came Here For Love, in June 2017, rocketed up the charts and has been played over 11 million times on Spotify.

She peaked at number five in the charts this year with her song Answerphone, but has seemed to have taken stardom in her stride.

It’s certainly been a fast rise for Ella, but when talking to her she is very down to earth about everything, grateful seems an appropriate word.

Speaking about her latest single, Ella believes it has been a huge high point in her career. Not just because of the song’s success, but because she could share that with another up and coming act.

“Answerphone is one of my favourites, if not the favourite, song that I’ve released. Releasing it with Banx and Ranx was really cool because they’re new. We basically wrote it together and couldn’t decide who was going to release it, so we just decided to do it together.”, Ella says.

“It’s really nice to be able to share that success with them, especially because it’s their first real insight into the world and they’re so talented and it’s great that the song worked and people loved it as much as we did.”

It’s been a busy 2018 so far for Ella, with shows and writing taking priority. It’s been a period of time which Ella says has helped her grow, as more than just an artist, “It’s been quite a weird year, it’s just been writing, doing loads of writing, going all over Europe, and getting the music together. I’ve had quite a few changes in my set up in the last six months so it’s been really fun. There’s so many things coming that I’m not allowed to talk about.”

One of the things to come that Ella is not allowed to talk about is her new single.

She teased it at a recent show and is keeping most of the details of it under wraps.

What she did tell me is that is it called Just Got Paid, it’s another collaboration between herself and Sigala, but there may be an added bonus for fans.

“I don’t even know if I’m supposed to be saying this but, it’s not a secret that me and Sigala are releasing another song together this year, the bit that nobody knows about it is that it’s not just us.”, she says with obvious excitement in her voice.

“I don’t know [when it will come out], I really don’t, but I only say that because the song that is coming is written but it’s not finished because there’s going to be someone else on it and it’s just trying to get that person to help.

“It’s really exciting and I am really excited about this song, I’ve known about it for a long time and the closer we get to the finish line the more excited I am and I feel like it’s going to be another summer anthem.”

At the time of writing this, that song still hasn’t been released.

However, Ella says it may be played when she appears at Brighton Pride, and that is the topic we move onto next.

Despite living just up the road in London, Ella has never attended Pride before, something she says she’s extremely excited about.

It’s noticeable to hear in her voice and she speaks faster and more frantically, as she tries to contain all the excitement she’s clearly feeling.

This is justified. Not only is Pride a stonking good time and plenty of fun, but Ella will be spending her festival playing on the same stage as pop legend Britney Spears, as well as Louise Redknapp.

“I’ve heard it’s so much fun and I’ve never been, and it’s so exciting that I get to be there on stage and sharing a stage with the one and only Britney Spears. It’s going to be amazing.”, Ella says.

For some artists, opening for Britney Spears would be a daunting task, but it doesn’t seem to faze Ella at all.

She knows exactly what she’s going to be faced with but says it hasn’t altered any of her usual preparations, “It definitely meant that I had to ramp up the conversation with my stylist about what I’m going to be wearing.

“There’s a pressure to make sure, yes Britney Spears is going to be looking fly, but we’re not outdone by that. It’s one of those things where this is a big event and I want people to know that I’m excited.

“Not even that. I just feel like I want to make sure the whole day is amazing. I know that Britney is going to be bringing it so I need to make sure that I bring it too.”

You don’t need to have been to Pride to have heard about it.

It may be the biggest weekend of the year in Brighton, but it’s safe to say that even on a global scale it is one of the biggest Pride events the world over.

This being the case, Ella has a good idea of what she’ll be in for, and while she says that the full moment won’t hit her until she arrives, she adds that she’s expecting one thing…fun.

“I’m expecting energy and lots of colour and I’m just excited because I love festivals. Everyone’s always excited and has that energy and I definitely feel that Pride is about unity and engaging and just coming together and having a really good time. I have all the faith in the world that the crowd are going to be amazing.

“I do not stop moving at any point. My show is one of those improvising shows. Britney will have all the flawless routines, but my show, notoriously, is me just running around like a lunatic, trying to get as many people dancing as possible, getting people to sing the words, even if they don’t know what they are. I just have a really good time.

“Pride is an amazing event and I just want people to go away feeling energised and like they’ve been to a party.”

While it seems that Ella could talk about her buzz surrounding this show for hours, conversation soon moves to the rest of 2018.

At the time of our chat Ella has just returned from some time in Venice, a holiday this time rather than for work purposes, but says that she still dreams of travelling to Asia.

Going into the conversation, I thought it would be rare that Ella and myself would share much common ground. However, much like myself, Ella has a huge fondness for Asian cuisine, especially sushi.

This passion for food also had an impact on Ella’s 2018, as she found herself inside a massive, white tent.

In February, Ella was confirmed to be appearing in a celebrity version of The Great British Bake Off.

She fared well in the contest – that’s to be expected when you have a chef as a father and a baker as a mother – but does add that the pressure of being in the Bake Off tent far outweighed any sort of pressure she feels when performing.

She says; “I think I underestimated how stressful it would actually be. When you see it on TV, yes everything goes wrong, but I’ve always watched it a bit cynically because I’m just telling them to calm down.

“What I realised is that if anything goes wrong, your timings are off and I’m not that great under pressure. I’m also, not that secretly, really competitive so trying to balance; coming across as friendly on TV, being competitive and everything going wrong, was quite the combination.

“I can do a gig, I’ve done it for a while, whereas with baking, it’s not my thing. When I’m on TV and my friends and family know I’ve never baked in my life, the pressure was on.”

Before we get too set in a foodie frame of mind, the topic turns back to new music.

Ella’s last full-length album was released in 2015, with a cry out from fans for a sophomore release.

With a new single on the way though, Ella says that while work on an album is ongoing, it may be a while before fans can expect it.

“I feel like I haven’t released an album for a really long time and I want to make sure it’s right. There’s a lot of people asking me about it, and I do feel guilty knowing that the album isn’t coming for a while, but that’s not a bad thing. I want it to be an improvement on the last album [2015’s Feline], and my last one took me three years.

“I learnt a lot from it; one thing I learnt was to not rush and I’m not going to rush this one.

“I’ve got a different team around me now and we’re changing things up. I think by the end of the year people will have a good idea of what’s coming.”

A love for fine food, a hit single, and possible another to come, and with a huge appearance at Brighton Pride still to come, Ella seems to have the whole world in her hands.

But, as our conversation winds down – I think we both had lunch on our minds after all that food talk – it is clear that Ella takes none of her success for granted.

A performer with her feet planted firmly on the ground, even as she reaches for the stars, the most important thing for Ella is the growth she has seen in herself

“I feel like I’ve come a long way in myself, as well as an artist. Stats and figures are all on paper but for me I’ve done a lot of growing up. When I released my last album I was coming out of my teenage years and my mindset was very different.”

I can’t claim to be a huge fan of pop music, but I may now be a fan of Ella Eyre.

You may not find me singing along to Answerphone on a regular basis, but I always have time for people who are humble. It’s clear that Ella is just that.

If she can smash her appearance at Pride, and all signs show she will, then you won’t need any Chinese Horoscope to figure out who 2018 belongs to.

Forget year of the dog, 2018 is the year of Ella Eyre.

Ella Eyre plays Brighton Pride Festival in Preston Park on Saturday, August 4, and goes on stage at 7pm, before Britney Spears