Gabriella Cilmi signed to Mushroom Records at just 13, telling school friends she’d been “on holiday in Brisbane” while travelling between Melbourne and London, being courted by record labels and in and out of studios making music. By 16, she had an international smash with Sweet About Me, a number 1 in multiple countries, Top 10 across Europe and Australia, and the UK’s most-played song of that year.
This whirlwind of early success wasn’t without its pressures and after releasing two albums to international acclaim, the demands and expectations took their toll and created a disconnect from what Gabriella loved most, making music.
The years that followed saw Gabriella living in London, writing with other artists, appearing as a guest vocalist on friends records and popping up on stages around the world all the while searching for her voice again. Lockdown in 2020 became the catalyst for reconnection — with her past, her mental health, and the joy of making music again.
That journey has led to Pure Love, recorded with a full band, live to tape with producer Peter Miles (Orla Gartland, Dodie) at Middle Farm Studios in Devon, England, on a Harvest Moon of 2024. It’s Raw, it’s unfiltered, and it’s free of perfectionism, the new album is a powerful return to the artist Gabriella was always meant to be.
“Pure Love was about unlearning everything I'd known, throwing away perfectionism and trying to please people. This record is just me - unfiltered and raw.”
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In an unsettling way, it’s fitting that the root of Gabriella Cilmi’s unmistakeable voice comes from a back problem known as excessive lordosis. The 22 year old Australian sings with such a tangible, unrestrained presence that it’s almost like the act itself physically hurts, and if that was the case then her pain would undeniably be this packed St Pancras Old Church’s gain. Hunched over until nearly bent double she captivates us completely with songs from her new record The Sting, an album inspired by breaking up with her label, management and boyfriend at the same time. Her intense performance sees her fall to her knees during the hypnotic I Am Just A Girl and gripping her mic stand for dear life during a rollicking strut through Symmetry. If there is an issue it’s that this deeply passionate performance feels a little misplaced when applied to previous singles like Sweet About Me and On A Mission, which are great pop songs in their own right but feel slightly flimsy when lined up against songs from The Sting, where the painfully heavy times that inspired it deserve a performance of a matching heaviness. It’s nit-pick though, for sure, Cilmi and her backing band are on fine form here, and if sets and songs as powerful as these become the norm then we should expect to see a lot more of this rare talent in the near future.