Woolton Hill teenager to release new single

Fundraiser for Kingsclere charity where she volunteered

A Woolton Hill teenager is to release a new single in July, to raise money for a Kingsclere charity where she previously worked as a volunteer.

Emma Lawrence, aged 18, will see her self-penned single You Are released on July 10 to raise money for the charity, Living Paintings.

Miss Lawrence said while working for the charity, she witnessed how it improved the lives of blind children and wanted to do more to help.

She said: “One mum told me how her daughter’s ‘very dark world had been made bright’ by their work and that’s what gave me the idea; in You Are I refer to coming through dark times.

“It all just seemed to make sense.”

Her folk-tinged voice has been blended on her new single with a classic rock melody created by renowned session musicians Geoff Dunn (drums), Greg Coulson (keyboard), Liam Tillyer (bass), Stu Dixon (guitar) and Beth Porter (cello) to produce a moody, catchy pop standard, produced by Damon Sawyer of Platform Studios.

Mr Sawyer said: “Emma’s music is a fusion of folk and pop and clearly expresses the emotions of all her songs.

“Her sound crosses the borders of Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey and Adele, but has its own unique quality and style.”

Miss Lawrence’s inspiration comes from artists such as Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Emeli Sandé.

Well-known locally, she has been writing and performing in public since she was 15, has already released two EPs and seen a top 40 iTunes hit.

She is due to take up a place later this year at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute, which has nurtured talent such as George Ezra, The Kooks and James Bay.

Supported entirely through grants and donations, the Kingsclere charity, Living Paintings, publishes audio and tactile books for blind and partially-sighted people, distributed through a free postal library.

The charity’s chief executive officer, Camilla Oldland, said Miss Lawrence’s support was amazing, and continued: “All the profits from the sale of You Are will come straight to Living Paintings so it’s no surprise that we are doing everything we can to promote it, despite being music industry virgins!

“As we have just celebrated reaching 10,000 blind and partially-sighted people with our free service, we thought it fitting to set a target of getting 10,000 downloads of the single.

“ The money raised will help us literally transform the lives of so many more blind children.”