New music to listen to this week: Mahalia

Now Hear This

(Screengrab)

Here's something beautiful to brighten up a grey November afternoon.

British singer/songwriter Mahalia performs an acoustic version of her track 'I Remember' - the premiere of which you can watch here on The Independent.

You might recognise her from the recent Noel Clarke film Brotherhood, which also features one of her original songs.

She's been busy building a live fanbase with appearances at The Great Escape, Latitude and Glastonbury, and toured with the amazing Ady Suleiman, if you needed any more convincing that she's the real deal.

The 'I Remember' video is part of her Diary Of Me project, where she puts out a new video every fortnight.

Check out the video below:

Q&A with Mahalia

What are you listening to at the moment?

I'm trying hard to listen to music outside of my normal, everyday playlist. I sat down for dinner last night and my mom put Billie Holiday on the record player and… wow. Just wow. I mean, I've always known who she was, but I had never taken the time to listen - it really was great. I also can't get Rose Royce “Love Don't Live Here Anymore” out of my head. Such beautiful lyrics. I think that's always going to be the song that I wished I'd have written.

I also heard a track called 'Caroline' by a rapper called Aminé the other day. It was sick, you should check that out if you get a chance! Verrrrrry cool.

What are your plans for 2017?

I've always been about seeing where the wind takes me. Towards the end of 2016 and into the start of 2017 I’m going to be back in the studio, writing and creating.

I definitely want to get myself out to more live shows, playing to the people who are listening and hopefully bringing in fresh ears. Ideally, I'd love to have my debut album ready late 2017. That's my main goal.

What was the first gig you ever played and what's been the best so far?

I started playing open mic nights around Leicester when I was pretty young! But, I guess my first real gig was when I was 13 years old, at Milly's World in Camden. I remember looking up at the audience in the room and completely bursting out in tears... I was so emotional.

My best gig so far was definitely my show in Dingle for the Other Voices festival. I have never experienced anything like it. Not only are the Other Voices team the most brilliant people ever but, what a place to play! St James' Church in Dingle is possibly the most beautiful place to do a gig. I'm just so grateful that I got given the chance to do it so early on in my career.