Ammar: The last two tracks have this amazing dissolution in sound, like a tide going out.
Kelly: I wrote the last track, 8, a week before the album was being mastered so it was very last minute. I wanted it to be free, my ideas flowed out and I made the track in three takes; what you’re hearing is me live EQ-ing the whole thing. That was the only conclusion I could leave the album on, being immersive but with a sense of openness for whatever’s next.

Ammar: Is making music a therapeutic process for you?
Kelly: It’s only really in hindsight that I can understand what I’ve created. I thought I’d write the lyrics for the record first because I used to write lots but actually the music came first and I had to figure out what the music was saying for my lyrics. On a certain day I would make specific sounds and that would be connected in some way to something that’s happened to me and then it was like a puzzle trying to figure out what the music wanted to say, if there were lyrics involved.

“I want to create an immersive space, like walking into a dream.”

Ammar: In terms of playing the record live, do you think the club can be a space where people can immerse themselves in a similar way as when they’re listening on headphones or at home?
Kelly: I want it to be that, definitely. I want to create an immersive space, like walking into a dream, something quite trippy but not so much so that you’re completely out of it. I want to connect with people that are there; it’s all about us as humans being together in one space experiencing something, and the fact that people have chosen to be there with me means a lot.

Ammar: Who are your inspirations outside of music?
Kelly: People who are strong willed. I admire those people because it took me a while to gather up confidence. Coming from Wales, there are a lot of strong females in my life, people who have been through shit and who don’t give up. I also worked in a cancer hospital in Manchester and there I met people who had lots of regrets and that’s my worst fear. All the clichés are fucking true – you should just go for it!

18K Gold Chrysoberyl Cat’s Eye Ring (c1960s) $18,000

Read Next