Lucy Blue (born Lucy McDonnell; 25 February 2002) is an Irish singer, songwriter and producer from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. When she was 17, Blue dropped out of college to pursue music and signed with Promised Land Recordings in 2020. She made her debut with the single "See You Later" (2021) and later that year released her second single, "Your Brother's Friend" (2021). Her first EP, ''FISHBOWL'', was released on 18 June 2021. Her second EP, ''Suburban Hollywood'', was released on 21 January 2022.

Early life

Blue was born in

, Ireland. She has spoken about being inspired by ''

Thrasher Magazine ''Thrasher'' is a skateboarding magazine founded in January 1981 by Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello. The publication consists primarily of skateboard- and music-related articles, photography, interviews and skatepark reviews. The magazine also ...

'' and

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

as she was growing up. She was 16 when she first started producing songs and taught herself to use the music producing program,

Logic Pro Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI music sequencer, sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which ...

, in her bedroom. Blue attended

Ballyfermot College of Further Education Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE; ) is an educational institution in Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland, a college of further and higher education. Management Ballyfermot College of Further Education is managed by the City of Dubl ...

and signed with Promised Land, a subsidiary of

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, in her second year of schooling.

Career

Blue's debut single "See You Later" was released on 19 February 2021. Blue's second single, "Your Brother's Friend" was released on 7 May 2021. Her debut EP, ''FISHBOWL'', was released on 18 June 2021. Blue stated that she wrote the majority of her EP in her bedroom when she was 16 and 17. On 16 July 2021, she released her single "Taxi Driver", co-written with Matt Maltese. The music video was directed by Thomas James. In the summer of 2021, she performed at festivals including

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Neighbourhood Weekender

TRNSMT TRNSMT (pronounced as "Transmit") is a music festival staged at Glasgow Green in Glasgow, Scotland, organised by DF Concerts. History An early line-up for the first TRNSMT festival was revealed in January 2017, two months after the announceme ...

and

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

and in the autumn she played headline shows in London and Dublin. On 3 November 2021, Blue released her single "First Man On The Moon" with an accompanying music video, in which she wears a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

astronaut suit. In January 2022, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' included Lucy Blue in their "NME 100" list of "essential emerging artists for 2022" and '' Clash'' included her in their list of "artists who will shape 2022". On 21 January 2022, Blue released her second EP ''Suburban Hollywood''. as well as a video for her song "Postman". In February 2022, Blue supported English folk punk band

Bears in Trees Bears in Trees are an English rock band from Croydon, South London, England. The band tend to reject genre labels, preferring to call themselves a 'dirtbag boyband.' In October 2020, Bears in Trees announced that they had been signed by Bos ...

on their UK tour. She is also scheduled to support

George Ezra George Ezra Barnett (born 7 June 1993) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. After releasing two EPs, '' Did You Hear the Rain?'' (2013) and '' Cassy O (2014), Ezra rose to prominence with the release of his hit single, "Budapest", ...

for 3 shows in April.

Influences

Blue cites musicians

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

and

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

as her biggest influences. Director

Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973, some sources report September 1, 1974)
" Retrieved on 2009-10-26. is an Ame ...

and photographer

Davide Sorrenti Davide Sorrenti (July 9, 1976 – February 4, 1997) was an Italian-American photographer, born into the prominent fashion photography Sorrenti family. He is best remembered for his involvement in the rise and fall of the Heroin chic fashion trend ...

also inspire her songwriting. She was inspired by Hong Kong film director

Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...

when making the music video for her second single, "Your Brother's Friend" (2021).

Artistry

Blue first attracted attention from media with her mixtape ''bedroom demos'' on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

in 2020. Blue describes herself as a songwriter before a singer, and as a visual person. Her music has been described by

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

as "bedroom pop" and as "alt-pop" by '' Clash''.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Lucy Musicians from County Dublin 21st-century Irish women singers 2002 births Living people Irish women pianists 21st-century Irish pianists Irish women guitarists 21st-century Irish guitarists Irish women songwriters 21st-century Irish songwriters