Foxes: "I wanted to get away from worrying about the small things"

It’s a massive, stonking, XXL-sized portion of big-pop: copious anthemry, hooks like harpoons, and a voice that’ll send shivers down the spine of the moon characterise Louisa Rose Allen’s first full-length. It’s an ode to youth – demonstrated most overtly in lead single “Youth”, but summed up pretty succinctly in “Let Go For Tonight” also. This album, despite it’s ruminations on heartache, is remarkably stuffed with freedom. “I wrote it with Kid Harpoon,” Allen begins, remembering how she wrote the tune. “I wanted to get away from worrying about the small things, and just think about having fun and not worrying about the past or future. I wanted you to feel free when you heard it. I guess I remember being at Kid Harpoon’s and making these amazing burgers… and between making them and eating them, we wrote the song in about an hour. It’s one of the more upbeat songs I’ve written, especially then, as I was going through a phase of writing really depressing songs.”

When we spoke to her in 2012, her career seemed to be in the throes of kicking off, and now, in 2014, we’re seeing the tail end of that meteoric rise, just as she’s cementing herself as a chart mainstay. A heck of a lot of things have changed in those two years. “I won a Grammy! That’s one big thing. I don’t own it yet; it’s in the post…” – it has now arrived – “...but I do have a bit of paper that says I’ve won it, so I guess that’s something, haha! Winning that has changed things a lot… I didn’t expect to win. I couldn’t believe I was even going to the Grammys, let alone winning one. It’s been nice to have a top ten single in the UK as well. I think generally the UK side feels like I’m sort of on the map a bit more now rather than before Christmas.”

Definitely, since her string of wildly successful singles, she’s lurched into the public eye. “I didn’t expect it all! I never expect it. When something I’ve done does well I never know how it’ll go down. It’s hard to gauge something like that; then suddenly the video’s already had like 5 million views, and it’s… it’s just crazy.” Her performance on Zedd’s “Clarity” has no doubt helped solidified her Stateside, and after the slew of collab tracks of last year (including Fall Out Boy and Sub Focus), can we expect any more from her now she’s surely a hot commodity? “I love collaboration with others, and the people I got to work with last year were incredible… I loved the chance to watch others make their way and learn from that. But no, not at the moment – I want to focus on Glorious. Maybe next year! I always say I’d love to work with Eminem. I love Katy Perry too. That’d be just… she’s someone I think is incredible and an amazing singer.”

To be frank, Glorious is well worth being focused on for a good while. It’s a fantastic testament to the melee of emotions that comes from leaving your teenage years, flying the nest and becoming (*gulp*) an adult. It’s taken Allen a lengthy chunk of time to hone that feeling and construct a debut worthy of release. “I’ve been writing, like everyone does on their debut, for years with loads of different people. I’ve been writing and growing up at the same time. While I was working with some other people, in my own time I was writing it, like any spare moment I had I’d sit down and write. I wrote the majority with a guy called Ghostwriter (Jonny Harris) in a tiny room in Kentish Town which was lots of fun. It’s been like two years in production though. I wrote “Youth” first and then most of the others were across last year, over the time I wasn’t featuring on what felt like everyone else’s songs!”

There’s a breadth of stunning ditties on the record, and tracks like “White Coats”, “Night Glo” and “Let Go For Tonight” are some highlights. The latter in particular rewrites the textbook on dance-pop – no small thanks to the video. “It was amazing. I re-did it again with a bunch of fans who won a competition afterwards as well! It was just this huge food fight; I got destroyed and ended up getting the brunt of it all… It was great fun though!” It’s not just a random collection of images though (well it is, but there’s a method in the madness). “It was actually based on an idea I had written in my diary when I was 8 – I went home and found it in my old diary. It had this story in it that I’d written about a food fight and running in a field. I thought it’d make a cool video, so I just emailed my Marc Klasfeld, who’s just my favourite director… I emailed him hoping he might help out, but I didn’t really expect to hear anything, but he got back and it just went from there.”

Though her work with Zedd helped plonk her onto the global stage, she’s had an ardent following for yonks, not least in South America. Hop on over to her Facebook page, and some of her most steadfast devotees hail from Brazil (here, ‘some’ means ‘a very vocal chunk’). “Haha it’s crazy, right? Just crazy – I’ve never even been there! It’s become this thing where other people are so confused where everyone just shouts “Brazil” all the time! I’ve never been, though I’d love to. It may be to do with “Clarity”? It’s taken on its own life now. People love it across the world. I did a world tour just before Christmas, it was mental, especially in the Philippines.”

Vocal Brazilians aren’t the only weirdly specific fanbase behind Allen. Lots of her early material was exposed to the world through Gossip Girl, and there’s a swathe of bodies that have followed her since. Fortunately for those followers, Allen is also a big fan of the show. “I love Blair! I watched it for a long time. Y’know when you watch a series, like power through boxes of it – actually you probably don’t do this – but I start thinking it’s my life. I went through this stage of thinking I was Blair Waldorf and I acted like a posh rich kid and I got way too involved. She’s the best character, she is wicked. Mental.”

Glorious is bound for big things, and Allen’s already garnering (even more) momentum. So what’s the plan for the summer then? “I’m doing lots [of festivals], which will be really fun. T In The Park, Wireless… it’s a long list! I’m excited for Wireless, it’ll be nice this year because there’s lots of new artists similar to me and it’ll be like one big UK family!”

“I have – obviously – the album out. There’s a European mini tour… I’ll be going to LA to do some writing… a UK tour as well. I’m going to Japan, to Australia, and if I look at my diary now there’s not much time for anything at all, which is good. I’m just chock-a-block right now! Travelling the world with my music is just fantastic and it’s always been a dream of mine.”

Glorious is out now on Sign of the Times Limited.