Today, we’re thrilled to introduce you to one of South London’s most compelling emerging voices Angel Murray. As a genre-blending singer-songwriter, she creates music that slips between the shadows of dreamy pop and the sting of emotional truth. She first burst onto the UK music scene in 2024 with a striking debut single, all while juggling a Law degree alongside her burgeoning dedication to this creative pursuit. Listening to her brand new single ‘Dreamt You’, you can’t help but be struck by her raw lyricism, cinematic atmosphere and dark-pop production. It draws comparisons to song sirens like Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey. Now, with The release of this haunting new single enables Angel Murray to dive deeper into the emotional dualities that define her sound: fantasy, reality, obsession, idealisation. It’s clear that she’s quickly carving out a lane of her own. For On The Record, we caught up with this promising artist to unpack the story behind ‘Dreamt You’, her creative process and what’s coming next.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with Angel Murray, can
you introduce yourself?
I’m Angel Murray, a singer-songwriter and artist from South London! I make cool (and pretty
hot), genre-blending pop with darker, dreamy undertones, music that you can scream-cry to or
dance to if you’re in the mood. I started taking music seriously and released my debut single in
2024, while in my first year of university studying Law. Since then, it’s become one of the most
important parts of who I am.
Your new single ‘Dreamt You’ feels incredibly raw and cinematic. Can you walk us
through the moment you knew this song had to be written?
Honestly, the second Luke sent me the beat, I was obsessed. When I write to a beat first, I let
myself feel before I overthink, sometimes that means just getting down whatever comes to mind,
like literally just random words. With my song Dreamt You, I revisited the lyrics quite a bit, and
even though I wrote it ages ago, something about it stuck. I finally decided a couple of months
ago that it was time to let it go into the world.
The second half of the song was recorded in just one night. What was going through
your mind during that session?
Oh my god, I was SO happy during that session! It was such a long night but honestly one of my
favourites, I just kept playing everything back, even with the raw unmixed layers overlapping
and sounding chaotic. I loved it. That was also when the idea for the bridge came to me, and I’m
so glad I went for it. It completely changed the song.
There’s a fascinating duality in the lyrics between obsession and idealisation. How did you channel that tension into the sound of the track?
I’m so glad you picked up on that! There’s definitely a push and pull between fantasy and fixation. I’d say I channelled it through the vocal production, there are a lot of echoey moments, layered harmonies and haunting adlibs that make the track feel dreamy and slightly unreal. Especially in the bridge, dragging the lyrics out vocally gave it a raw, desperate edge that really captures that tension.
How important is that balance between fantasy and reality in your songwriting more broadly?
It’s so important. I think a lot of my music lives in that in-between space, where you’re not sure if something is love or illusion, control or comfort. I like writing from that perspective because it mirrors real life. The emotional weight we put on our fantasies or imagination is often way heavier than reality, and I think that’s really powerful to explore.
What directions did you take to put that same emotional intensity into the production?
I work really closely with one of my producers, Dan, on shaping the sound to match the emotion. He knows my style now too, that blend of cinematic instrumentals and softer vocals, so we always try to keep the production true to the sound I’m building for myself. On Dreamt You, the bridge made such a difference, as I’ve said but like it really really did. The vocals are full of yearning, and they ride this intense beat that’s both danceable and intense, that contrast really helped elevate the emotion.
With comparisons to Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, and Olivia Rodrigo, how do you feel your sound fits into that dark-pop universe, and where does it diverge?
It’s always such a huge compliment to be compared to artists like that, they all have such strong identities. I think people make those comparisons because I also aim to bring something distinctive to the table. That said, I do think my sound adds something new to dark-pop. I’ve been told by multiple of my (very sweet) supporters that they recognise my music straight away, and that’s one of my favourite things to hear. I draw from a really wide range of influences too, even outside pop, and I think that versatility bleeds into my sound in a really interesting way.
Currently you’re 20 years old, on that first step into adulthood. Do you think that’s changed how you see yourself in music?
Oh, absolutely. I’ve noticed I write about things a bit differently now, there’s more awareness,
more reflection. But funnily enough, I also relate to some of the older songs I wrote even more
now than when I first wrote them. It’s a weird full-circle feeling. In terms of how I see myself in
the industry, if that’s what you meant, I still feel like I have so much time. I’m in no rush, I just
want to grow authentically.
Have you set yourself any big, even out-of-the-box goals for your future career?
Definitely, I have a list, but I keep it to myself! Evil eye is real haha. All I’ll say is: I’m dreaming
big, and I’m trusting the process.
Looking ahead, what should listeners be looking out for next from you?
Keep an eye out for the Dreamt You music video, my first ever, which I’m so proud of. I’ve also
got some live shows coming up, including opening for the amazing Neave Marr at The Grace on
September 14th, which will be my first proper performance. It’s going to be a really exciting year!
You can listen to ‘Dreamt You’ in our Shades of Pop playlist
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