After a busy year that saw her play support on Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour, release her genre-bending project Vert1go Vol. 1, and become friends with one of the most famous people in the world in Taylor Swift (who shared Griff’s single ‘Vertigo’ on Instagram when it was released in August), it’s been a relatively slow start to 2024 for the Brit-winning British singer-songwriter Griff.
That, however, is about to change as she released her brand new single ‘Miss Me Too’ last Friday quickly followed by news of her follow-up EP Vert1go Vol. 2 which is set to release on 5th April. Add to that her largest headline tour so far, and it’s clear the past two months have been the calm before the storm.
“It feels like a lot is going on and I’m trying not to overthink things” Griff smiles when asked about the coming months, “but it’s exciting. I’ve been working on the music for a long time so it’s about time it’s out in the world”.
‘Miss Me Too’ tells the story of finding your way back to yourself, and the dwindling self-confidence that growing up can sometimes cause.
“'Miss Me Too' is about being stuck in this hollow version of yourself after heartbreak and growing up,” Griff wrote of the track on its release, “and wondering where the version of yourself that once had faith in the world and love”.
“I’ve been dropping the music in parts” she explains to Goldenplec of the decision to return with ‘Miss Me Too’, “I released Vert1go Vol.1 last year and I was really intentional that those songs are not just typical big pop songs, that they be very introverted and sad and it felt right to kick off the new year and Vol.2 with ‘Miss Me Too’.
"It’s so euphoric and what separates Vol.1 and Vol.2 is that Vol.2 is a big step up in energy and you can definitely feel that in ‘Miss Me Too’”.
“I’ve been collecting these songs in different fragments of time” Griff explains when asked if the projects were recorded back-to-back. “Because of all the touring I’ve been doing since Covid I didn’t have a long block of time to write and go the studio to record an album."
"So, between shows I’d book an AirBnB and spend the week or a few days writing and recording whenever I could and so it kinda got to where I had 100 songs and I had to start putting them out and that’s where the idea for the volumes came about.”
One of the brightest sparks of Vol.2 is the project closer ‘Cycles’, which was produced with one of her personal favourites Mura Masa. “It’s one of the last songs I wrote for this project and one of the most dancy songs I’ve ever written” she explains of the track’s development.
“We wrote it in Sweden over the summer and it felt quite dancy. I’m a big fan of Mura Masa, they’ve influenced my production quite a lot, and so I decided to send it to him to ask would he produce it and he very kindly did. You can really feel his influence in it, but I’m really excited for everyone to hear his sound on the project”.
The success of Vol.1, Griff openly admits, was a pleasant surprise following a prolonged period of no new music due to being on the road for the vast majority of 2021 and 2022; first with Dua Lipa and then Ed Sheeran.
“When I did play my own shows or open shows I didn’t know who in the crowd was there from the beginning or who was there from the Coldplay tour or Ed Sheeran tour” she notes, “so it was crazy to see the response and to get Taylor Swift shouting out Vertigo and stuff, so yeah, it was amazing”.
Later this month, Griff will be bringing the biggest headline show to date to Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre. It’s not been long since she was in Ireland however, having made the pilgrimage to Dingle for Other Voices in December.
“I love it in Ireland, it’s always such a big crowd” she smiles, “The last time I was in Ireland it was Kerry for Other Voices and it was amazing. It didn’t feel like a music festival. At other festivals when you get loads of artists together it's sometimes not as welcoming but because of the way Other Voices was set in that tiny village it’s so nice and people are so excited to have artists there.
"The pubs are amazing too, there was one where you had to go through nearly a hardware store at the front to get to the bar at the back which was brilliant, I really liked that one but they all had their own character”.
“It was quite whistle-stop” she replies when asked who she managed to catch over the weekend, “but I really wanted to see The Joy, this acapella band, but I got to chat to them before and then I caught a bit of KhakiKid before I left which was great, he’s brilliant”
“I’m just really excited” she adds of the tour, which kicks off May 10th in Sweden, “It feels like about time to be in the room of people that know my songs, there’s nothing better than a room full of people singing songs that they love and mean so much to them and I can’t wait to hopefully experience the same with my own songs”.