Violet Skies

I have to admit, I’m a sucker for piano ballads. There is something so exquisite about the power that each chord strung together, manipulated by the genius behind the hands, crafting into a song from the soul. This paired with the help of what a simple (or rather, not-so-simple) DAW can add and finished with vocals that exude the same emotional range and “How the Mighty” is what arises.
Emotionally captivating, the track by Violet Skies sucks the listener straight in and keeps us there until the song ends.It also gives the final moments of the song back to the piano, shining the composition overall as a piece of art and not just highlighting that this is a piece to be appreciated together. - Earmilk

That soft soulful R&B female vocalist wave has swept many of us away this year. BANKS, Rosie Lowe, George Maple, and so on have taken the year by storm with their own efforts as well as popping up on everyone else's tracks. But they've often stuck to the minimal R&B side of things: low basslines, pulsing rhythms. Another name to add to that list is Violet Skies, except, on 'How The Mighty', she's decided to plonk a load of orchestration on top of that minimal electro and it sounds bloody brilliant.

I think I just have a thing for female vocalists over minimal R&B tracks really, so I would've quite liked Violet Skies even without the flourishing piano that beautifully bookends the track. However, throw that into the mix and it turns Violet Skies into a female Woodkid, who brought out one of my favourite debut albums in the first half of this year. Yet here, without the grand brass sections creating a more cinematic feel as heard on The Golden Age everything here is turned down and is a lot more subtle. If The Golden Age is an album packed full of anthems for protagonists running into battle or on the run (basically doing lots of running), 'How The Mighty' feels like the more contemplative side of things. Simple yet beautiful and arresting. - The 405

The word ‘cinematic’ is too frequently used to describe music with all the evocative power of a tax demand. Violet Skies’ music, on the other hand, is too widescreen, sensuous and evocative to be contained by the word.

Centring on Violet’s remarkably nuanced voice, these are songs that could only have been written and recorded now, echoing as they do with a thoroughly modern sensibility that exists between genres. It’s a unique sound enabled by Violet’s insatiable curiosity for the creative opportunities offered by technology. But there is also much heart here. It’s this relationship between the personal and the creative possibilities opened up by digital technology that makes Violet’s music so unique and fascinating.

The fact that she writes melodies a forgetful milkman could whistle helps too, of course.

As Violet herself puts it: “My sound balances a love for artists I grew up with, such as Joni Mitchell, Sting and Paul Simon, and the soundscapes of James Blake and Massive Attack.”

Violet is from Chepstow in Gwent. 2014 saw her play Glastonbury BBC Introducing Stage, a headline London show, open for Grammy Award winners A Great Big World, and release her EP, 'Dragons'. Violet's tracks have been played by Huw Stephens on Radio 1, Jamie Cullum on Radio 2 and widely supported across BBC Radio Wales, and she has been featured in Hunger Magazine and NME, and many online blogs. - BBC Radio

Now, Violet is cool. Not does she look the part with her icy blonde hair and striking blue eyes, but this girl can juggle dripping tap-style minimalist drum beats with classical keys alongside velvety vocals- and make it look like the easiest thing in the world. All whilst sounding bloody brilliant. A mix of soul, electronic and classic, with deep solo beats and stripped back raw vocals- everything about Violet Skies feels truly organic, and dare I say it- fresh, there's a reason this lady is one to watch. - What Olivia Did