British pop-soul sensation Skye Newman: ‘I come from a vulnerable background and there are vultures in this world’

Interview British pop-soul sensation Skye Newman: ‘I come from a vulnerable background and there are vultures in this world’ Iman Amrani The 22-year-old singer is up for two Brit awards thanks to her frank songs about family strife and predatory men. She explains why she’s fighting for her fellow council estate kids A lthough she is on course for pop stardom, with two nominations at next week’s Brit awards , 22-year-old Skye Newman lives in a cabin at the bottom of her sister’s garden in London. It’s the backdrop for the music video to her song Hairdresser, which has 7.5m views on YouTube. In the clip, she is made up, her hair in rollers, lounging with a gaggle of friends. Licking her fingertips to roll a joint, she laments a one-sided friendship with another woman: “When I’m needed, know I’ll be there first / You don’t reciprocate and, girl, that hurts.” It’s typical of Newman’s songcraft: ballad-driven contemporary soul that goes beyond romantic heartbreak to cover all kinds of pain and recrimination. The cabin gives Newman independence, but also proximity to family in the main house – which is where she is sitting today, barefaced, barefoot and drowning in an oversized black tracksuit. Her sister, who is also Newman’s manager, pops my tea on to the table and hovers nearby. The sisters each have their blond hair slicked back into topknots. Today is a busy day and tomorrow they fly to the US where Newman has two sold-out shows. Newman’s family is the subject of her biggest song to date, Family Matters, which is nominated for song of the year at the Brits (she is also up for breakthrough artist). It lays bare the pain that she experienced growing up: phone calls from the police, drug abuse in her home, a brush with death. “At school, weed was my perfume,” she sings. “Then my brother’s drugs got harder / It became substance abuse, so he’s a stupid bastard.” Understandably, she guards the details of her family history closely, but the accumulation of stresses that she...