Elizabeth Sinead Hillesdon (born 12 March 1995), known professionally as Pixey, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. She began recording and releasing demos in 2016, and made her professional debut in 2020.

Early life

Elizabeth Sinead Hillesdon was born on 12 March 1995 in

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administr ...

West Lancashire West Lancashire is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Ormskirk, and the largest town in the borough is Skelmersdale. At the 2011 Census, the population of the borough was 110,685 ...

and grew up in

Parbold Parbold is a village and civil parish in West Lancashire, England. Local government Parbold had a population of 2,582 at the 2011 Census. West Lancashire is divided into 19 parish councils, the first tier of local government. Parbold is borde ...

, attending school in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Although surrounded by the music of

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

and

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

growing up, Pixey did not begin to play music herself until recovering from a life-threatening

viral infection A viral disease (or viral infection) occurs when an organism's body is invaded by pathogenic viruses, and infectious virus particles (virions) attach to and enter susceptible cells. Structural Characteristics Basic structural characteristics, s ...

at the age of twenty. Then, teaching herself guitar and learning how to produce using

Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Ableton Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool f ...

, she began making music with a DIY approach inspired by that of

Mac DeMarco MacBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco (born Vernor Winfield MacBriare Smith IV; April 30, 1990) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. DeMarco has released six full-length studio albums, his debut ''Rock and Roll Night C ...

Career

Pixey self-released "Hometown" and "Young" to

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

in 2016, and the latter won attention from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and received regular airplay. She recruited musicians from the

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a performing arts higher education institution in Liverpool, founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996. LIPA offers 11 full-time BA (Hons) degrees in a range ...

and performed regularly at local Liverpool venues such as the Jacaranda. After a brief tenure with Liverpool-based independent label Modern Sky, Pixey self-released her debut EP ''Colours'' in 2019, which featured "Young" and a re-recorded version of "Hometown". During the

COVID-19 lockdown Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

of 2020, Pixey signed to London-based independent record label Chess Club, and released her professional debut single "Just Move". This was followed by two further singles, "Free to Live in Colour" and "Electric Dream", which both received widespread radio and press attention. Pixey was included in the 2021

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 ...

100, a list of "essential emerging artists for 2021". Following the release of the three singles, Pixey's Chess Club debut EP ''Free to Live in Colour'' was released on 23 March 2021. Shortly after, she announced a second EP ''Sunshine State'', co-produced by Pete Robertson of

the Vaccines The Vaccines are an English indie rock band, formed in West London in 2010. Band members Justin Hayward-Young (lead vocals, guitar), Freddie Cowan (lead guitar, vocals), Árni Árnason (bass, vocals), Timothy Lanham (guitars, keys, vocals) and ...

. Released on 29 October 2021, it was promoted by three singles: "Sunshine State", "Life in Stereo", and "Take Me On". In December 2021, she released the documentary ''Pixey - In a Sunshine State'' to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Directed by Marieke Macklon, it documented the making of the ''Sunshine State'' EP and featured performance footage of Pixey and her live band. In March 2022, Pixey embarked on a tour of the UK supporting labelmate

Alfie Templeman Alfie George Templeman (born 26 January 2003) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. In 2016, he began recording and releasing demos at the age of 13. Templeman made his professional solo debut in 2018 and has relea ...

. This was followed by a sold-out headline show at The Windmill, Brixton. Throughout the year she performed at festivals such as

Tramlines The Tramlines Festival is an annual music festival held in Sheffield, UK. The festival was originally free to attend, but now requires tickets. The line-up consists of national and local artists. The festival was curated and organised by a pan ...

Y Not ''Y Not'' is the 16th studio album by Ringo Starr, released on 12 January 2010 on the UMe and Hip-O Records labels. Music, lyrics and recording "Peace Dream" features former Beatle Paul McCartney on bass; another Beatle, John Lennon is r ...

, LIMF, and

Truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

, and supported

DMA's DMA'S (stylised in all caps) are an Australian three-piece rock band formed in 2012 in Sydney. The band is composed of Tommy O'Dell, Matt Mason, and Johnny Took. They gained popularity for their debut single " Delete" and for their self-titled ...

Tom Grennan Thomas Grennan (born 8 June 1995) is an English singer and songwriter from Bedford and is based in London. Grennan found fame as the guest vocalist on Chase & Status's " All Goes Wrong" in 2016. His debut album, '' Lighting Matches'', was rel ...

, and

the Libertines The Libertines are an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, has also included John Hassall ...

. In June 2022, Pixey released "Come Around (Sunny Day)" and hinted that it was the first single of an upcoming project. In July, she announced that her mini-album, ''Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes'', would be set for release in September, and dropped another single, "Recycled Paper Planes". A third single, "I'm Just High", was premiered on

Clara Amfo Clara Amfo (born 22 May 1984) is a British radio broadcaster, television presenter, podcast host and voice-over artist. She is known for presenting her shows on BBC Radio 1. Early life and education Amfo was born in Kingston upon Thames in Lo ...

's BBC Radio 1 ''Future Sounds'' show, and ''Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes'' was released on 30 September. Pixey performed songs from the mini-album live at

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

for Jack Saunders' BBC Radio 1 ''Future Artists'' show. A fourth, promotional single, "Melody (From You to Me)", was premiered on Dean & Vicky’s daytime BBC Radio 1 show on 3 November. Pixey's collaboration with

Mint Royale Mint Royale is the alias of electronic music producer Neil Claxton and, until 2004, a duo consisting of himself and Chris Baker, originating from Manchester, England. It was founded by Claxton and Baker in 1997. Baker left the band in 2004, bu ...

on a cover of the Charlatans' "

One to Another "One to Another" is a song by British alternative rock band the Charlatans. It was the first single from their fifth album, '' Tellin' Stories'' (1997), and their first single following the death of the band's keyboardist, Rob Collins. The sin ...

" is currently the theme song for the

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

2022-23 Premier League season.

Musical style and influences

Pixey's music has been primarily described as

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

alternative pop Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

, and

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

. In various specified songs, critics have also noted elements of

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, ...

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States i ...

sampledelia Sampledelia (also called sampledelica) is sample-based music that uses samplers or similar technology to expand upon the recording methods of 1960s psychedelia. Sampledelia features "disorienting, perception-warping" manipulations of audio samp ...

breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ...

, and '90s

baggy Baggy was a name given to a British alternative dance genre popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with many of the artists referred to as "baggy" being bands from the Madchester scene. History The genesis of indie-dance was the Balearic ...

. Her sound is typified by looped

breakbeats Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

-laden guitar, and sampling. Pixey cites

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

, Kate Bush, Björk,

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has in ...

the Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simo ...

the Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

, and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

as musical influences.

Discography

;Mini-albums *''Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes'' (2022) ;EPs *''Colours'' (2019) *''Free to Live in Colour'' (2021) *''Sunshine State'' (2021) ;Singles *"Hometown" (demo) (2016) *"Young" (2016) *"Supersonic Love" (2019) *"Young" / "Supersonic Love (Summer Version)" (2020, vinyl-only) *"Just Move" (2020) *"Free to Live in Colour" (2020) *"Electric Dream" (2021) *"Electric Dream (Piano Version)" (2021) *"Sunshine State" (2021) *"Life in Stereo" (2021) *"Take Me On" (2021) *"Come Around (Sunny Day)" (2022) *"

" (with

) (2022) *"Recycled Paper Planes" (2022) *"I'm Just High" (2022)

References

{{reflist English singer-songwriters English pop rock singers British indie pop musicians British indie rock musicians Dream pop musicians English multi-instrumentalists People from Ormskirk People from Parbold English women pop singers