Cork artist Lenii has won a songwriting contest judged by Coldplay and Dua Lipa. The New York based Corkonian, real name Ellen Murphy, received first place in the Adult Contempoary category of the prestigious International Songwriting Competition (snappy name lads) for her song Yellow, with Tones and I walking away with the main prize.

Lenii began playing classical violin at age 4, before progressing to guitar and piano soon after. She moved to New York when she was 15 to take Ableton Live production classes at Dubspot, an electronic music production and DJ school. As the only girl in the school, Lenii felt she needed to prove herself in the electronic dance world and subsequently spent years featuring as a producer and vocalist on multiple dance records.

“I started making music that was more ‘masculine’ and wearing all black,” remembers Lenii. “I went back to Ireland to finish secondary school, but returned to Dubspot when I was 18. I then studied mixing, mastering, sound design and DJing for a year.”

Lenii has released 3 singles from her upcoming 2020 EP and was a featured artist on Zack Martino’s “Crave U,” which charted on Billboard and at #16 on the US Airplay Dance Charts. Lenii also callaborated on 1000 Beasts new track Waistcoat.