“Eight-year-old me wouldn’t believe this”

Griff has spoken to NME about collaborating with Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, and how opening for Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium will be “one of the most surreal things in my career”.

The singer-songwriter was talking to NME backstage at BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend, where she spoke of how much she was looking forward to the Eras Tour stop in the capital on June 22.

“Eight-year-old me who had ‘Fearless’ on repeat wouldn’t believe this,” she said. “I’m unbelievably grateful to Taylor for all the love she’s shown me and my music.”

It comes after Swift posted about Griff’s track ‘Vertigo’ on her Instagram last year.

“That was very surreal,” Griff told NME. “I was at home seeing my parents, sitting at the dinner table, and not on my phone. Then, when I went on my phone, there were so many notifications but I didn’t know what it was.

She continued: “I had to scroll right to the bottom where it said ‘Taylor Swift has mentioned you in her story’. It’s just so wild that she would even share my music because she never posts and she didn’t have to do that.”

Taylor Swift. Credit: Andre Dias Nobre/Getty

Looking ahead to her debut album ‘Vertigo’, Griff described the record as “heartbroken but also euphoric” and cited Enya as a key influence.

“There’s a sense of ethereal euphoria in her music and I would describe my album as heartbroken but also euphoric,” she said. “When you hear ‘Miss Me Too’, ‘Cycles’ and ‘Vertigo’, especially, there’s this journey of sadness but also euphoria.”

The BRITs Rising Star award winner added that she chose the title ‘Vertigo’ “because all the songs have been written from an emotional sense of vertigo, and heartache and sadness often feels like that.”

“I hope there are songs on it that people will really resonate with,” she added.

Credit: Bella Howard for NME

Having written 100 songs for the album, she said the “14 that made it are the ones I’m still listening to and am moved by.

“They mean so much to me, and I feel like I’ve written some of my best songs for this album,” she went on. “I’m really proud of it.”

Talking about the sound and songwriting process behind the record, she said: “I haven’t overthought the genre of things, I just love writing emotional pop songs.

“I’ve been really intentional about all the lyrics and concepts and the way I’ve communicated all these different emotions on the album. I think it’s a level up, because there’s so much to say.”

She said that she referenced a lot of hip-hop beats and drum productions while making the album,  and that one of the new songs, ‘Cycles’  – produced by Mura Masa – is “a different sound for me”.

As well as supporting Coldplay on their European stadium tour earlier this year (which she described their show as “the best live show I’ve ever seen”), Griff collaborated with frontman Chris Martin on her song ‘Astronaut’, which she called “the most surreal moment of my life.”

“He’s the best songwriter of our generation so it was crazy to be on tour with him, and for him to be generous enough to listen to my songs,” said Griff. “He gave me some advice and ended up playing piano on it.”

Looking ahead 2024 world tour, Griff said: “It’s going to be a busy year.

“I’m so excited for Ally Pally – that feels like a crazy thing to say. I want to create a safe space for people to come, really enjoy the music, feel things and hopefully find something unique about my show.”

Griff releases ‘Vertigo’ on July 19, ahead of a packed run of world tour dates. Check out a full list of tour dates below and visit here to purchase tickets.

Griff’s 2024 World Tour dates are: 

AUGUST
13 – Brisbane, Princess Theatre
15 – Sydney,  Enmore Theatre
17 – Melbourne, Northcote Theatre
19 – Auckland, Powerstation

SEPTEMBER
13 – Washington, 9:30 Club
16 – Philadelphia, Theatre of Living Arts
17 – New York, Terminal 5
20 – Boston, House of Blues
21 – Montreal, Beanfield Theatre
22 – Toronto, Danforth Music Hall
24 – Detroit, St Andrew’s Hall
26 – Chicago, The Vic Theatre
27 – Minneapolis, First Avenue, Mainroom
29 – Denver, Ogden Theatre
30 – Salt Lake City, The Depot

OCTOBER
2 – Vancouver, The Commodore Ballroom
3 – Seattle, Showbox SoDo
4 – Portland, Crystal Ballroom
6 – San Francisco, Regency Ballroom
7 – Los Angeles, The Wiltern
9 – San Diego, The Observatory North Park
10 – Tempe, The Van Buren

NOVEMBER
8 – Glasgow, O2 Academy
9 – Birmingham, O2 Academy
10 – Bristol, O2 Academy
12 – Manchester, Academy
13 – London, Alexandra Palace
16 – Paris, Élysée Montmartre
18 – Cologne, Carlswerk Victoria
19 – Amsterdam, Paradiso
20 – Antwerp, De Roma
22 – Hamburg, Docks
24 – Berlin, Huxleys
25 – Copenhagen, Vega
27 – Munich, Theaterfabrik
29 – Lausanne, Les Docks
30 – Milan, Magazzini Generalli

DECEMBER
2 – Barcelona, Razzmatazz
3 – Madrid, La Riviera

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