Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
Mabel has a musical pedigree that would ensure she got attention regardless of the quality of her songs. The 19-year-old singer is the daughter of super-cool Swedish pop star Neneh Cherry and her talented producer husband Cameron McVey. This also makes Mabel the half-sister of Marlon Roudette, the Syco-signed artist who had a top 10 hit with When The Beat Drops Out earlier this year. Mabel premiered her first track last week, the intriguing Know Me Better. The offspring of music legends usually make for self-indulgent pop stars, too afraid to really try in case they don’t match their parents’ success, but that’s not true of Mabel. Her voice is sweet yet soulful, and her sound is quirky R&B-pop. Her 10 years spent in Sweden, where she studied music production, seem to have given her the Swedish ear for a strong melody and the ability to balance pop and cool in a very natural way. Although Mabel didn’t collaborate with dad Cameron on Know Me Better, I think his work must have had an influence, as I hear similarities to Siobhan Donaghy’s brilliant solo material, merged with the hip-hop influences I assume she took from mum Neneh. Her background may get her noticed, but it’s down to Mabel now to turn interest into success.
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