Jessica Rosemary Frances Mills, commonly known as Jess Mills, is an English singer/songwriter and musician, currently signed to Island Records, who has collaborated with many UK electronic music producers including

Photek Rupert Parkes (born 6 September 1971), known as Photek, is a Los Angeles-based British electronic music DJ/record producer, and TV and film score composer. Photek was born and raised in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Photek has contributed music ...

Distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...

and Breakage.

Early life and career

Mills grew up in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

. She is the daughter of

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Tessa Jowell Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from ...

and lawyer David Mills, and attended

Acland Burghley School Acland Burghley School is a mixed comprehensive secondary school in the Tufnell Park area of the London Borough of Camden, in London, England. The school received specialist status as an Arts College in 2000 and is a part of the LaSWAP Sixth For ...

; there, she met Niomi McLean-Daley, better known as

Ms. Dynamite Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards. Early years She was born Niomi Arleen Mc ...

, becoming friends and, "doing dodgy dance routines in assembly together." After graduating from Sussex University, Mills began working in a local pub to fund a continued interest in music on the side. After a steady string of collaborations with various musicians throughout the 2000s (including one with Dom Search from

The Nextmen The Nextmen is a UK production/songwriting/DJ duo consisting of Dom Search (a.k.a. Dominic Betmead) and Brad Baloo (a.k.a. Brad Ellis). Often incorporating hip hop, drum & bass, dub, pop, soul and various other eclectic electronic and ind ...

) she eventually got her real break touring with

Leftfield Leftfield are a British electronic music duo formed in 1989 as the duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (the latter formerly of the Rivals and A Man Called Adam). The duo was very influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990s, wi ...

in 2010. She has worked extensively with producer Breakage, scoring a UK top 40 hit with the track "Fighting Fire". Other tracks released in 2011 include the singles "Vultures" and "Live For What I Die For", as well as a cover of

The Cure The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...

's "

A Forest "A Forest" is a song by the English rock band The Cure. Co-produced by Mike Hedges and the band's Robert Smith, it was released as a single from the band's second album '' Seventeen Seconds'' on 28 March 1980. It was their debut entry on the ...

" (of which Robert Smith himself has admitted he is a fan). She has attracted interest from the press including a feature to run in '' i-D'' magazine. Her debut album, titled "Twist of Fate" was originally set to be released on 28 January 2013, but due to her label's poor promotion of "For My Sins", the album was pushed back and ultimately shelved. Since her departure from Island Records, she has signed with

Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

. Her first release with this label is a free download of '' Sweet Love'', an original song that incorporates lyrics from

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

's song of the same name. She has supported Scottish singer-songwriter

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian father ...

on her Our Version of Events Tour, after performing alongside Sandé, Annie Lennox &

Katy B Kathleen Anne Brien (born 8 May 1989), better known as Katy B, is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, '' On a Mission'', in 2011, which spawned two top five hits, "Katy on a Mission" and " Lights On". In 2014 ...

at an EQUALS live concert. Mills released her fourth single "For My Sins" on 14 September 2012 ahead of the release of her later-cancelled album Twist of Fate In 2015, Mills made a return under the moniker "SLO" and has since released two EP's. On 15 March 2019 she released the single 'Temporary Madness' as the first single from her debut album "Solace", released on 12 April. Mills also works for the charity

Help Refugees Choose Love (formerly Help Refugees) is a UK-based non-governmental organization (NGO) which provides humanitarian aid to, and advocacy for, refugees around the world. In 2016, it became the largest grassroots distributor of aid in Europe. Choo ...

.'The youngest refugee was two years old'
(04/05/16) on BBC ''

Newsbeat ''Newsbeat'' is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. ''Newsbeat'' is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for a specifically yo ...

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Twist of Fate'' (Cancelled) * ''Solace'' (as SLO) (2019)

Extended plays

* '' SLO'' (2015) * ''Atone'' (2016)

Singles

As featured artist

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Jess Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English women in electronic music English women singer-songwriters Daughters of barons 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Dubstep musicians People from Kentish Town Singers from London Alumni of the University of Sussex