ONE TO WATCH: IYAMAH

Here at Oíche, we love all things soul, embracing the traditional genre as well as it's worthy & diversified counterpart - neo-soul. After a successful tour with her neo-soulsister Mahalia, Brighton beauty IYAMAH is unleashing her fiery soulful RnB vibes all over our "one to watch" radar.

Evident in her style is an artistic background, encouraged by a creative upbringing and influenced by empowering female artists like Alicia Keys and Erykah Badu. Unique to what we have witnessed so far from Iyamah is her ability to simplify the complex, to strip back the lyrics to create meaning and to let them shine brightly over a clean and tidy backing track. A delivery that is minimalist, with a result that is anything but.

In her debut single 'Cryptic Love', the London-based songstress exposes herself as a fool in love but a warrior in heartbreak, and the result is a powerful new-age love ballad that is both an instant hit and a sign of what's to come. As credible as a gentle pianist as she is a topline Drum n' Bass writer, Iyamah's silky smooth vocals paired with her rhythmic melodies leave us not only certain of but tickled with excitement about the future of soul music.

Written by Aoife Chaney