Annie Elise sparks a young kind of love in the shimmering “Too Scared To Ask”

Picture this: it’s a hazy summer’s evening, you are walking through the inner city with your headphones in, romanticising the floral prints, sunglasses, the sound of laughter, and all-round feel-good energy (I know we’re in London, but at least try) - and you are on your way to meet your friends. What song do you have on repeat?

A glimmering slice of heaven, reminiscent of the ’00s, Annie Elise’s warm vocals whispering sweet nothings via her latest single “Too Scared To Ask”. Lightly coated with young love, the kind that sparks those never-ending butterflies, Elise’s vulnerability and angelic harmonies walk hand-in-hand for a moment I’m sure every one of us has experienced.

“Too Scared To Ask" is really just about having a big ol' crush on someone and not knowing if they feel the same way,” Annie tells BEST FIT. “It's that fun and flirty butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling, but it's also the overthinking that comes with it. There are so many emotions present, and I wanted to explore them in this song. Joy and excitement, fear, intimidation, shyness, self-reflection, vulnerability... I infused all those feelings in the songwriting and production, drawing from my own first date memory with my current boyfriend of two years! He also played some killer guitar for the track, which made it such a wholesome and full-circle moment.”

Experiencing the world through her own lens, the twenty-year-old pieces together her sound with the help of her neurological condition synaesthesia. Inspired by the sounds and colours around her, she puts pen to paper and creates songs that reflect what she loves most. Although originally a classically trained violinist, it wasn’t until she stumbled across electronic music that the fire in her belly started to ignite and in turn begin to uplift the women around her. It’s little surprise that only 2% of the songs we see in the charts are produced by women, but Annie Elise is on a mission to change that and help inspire budding female creatives to take a similar path.

Underpinned with a luxurious feel that’s introduced with a gracious warm-up and accented with an almost animated touch, the multi-talented artist instantly submerges the listener into a dream-like pool that blurs the lines of fantasy and reality into one seamless listen.

“The song wrote itself - I think I wrote the hook in half an hour during a lunch break in between classes - but the production took much longer and was tricky to get right, so I asked j. hurlock for their special touch on it. I've always been a huge fan of their ear and skill with instrumentation and pocket, and their additions to the track were really special,” she reveals. “I really love this track and I'm grateful for all the time, energy, and especially talent that everyone involved contributed.”

Appearing on her debut EP Breathe In, Breathe Out, Annie Elise is continuing to break down the barriers not only within her music but for women in the industry too – a promising star as she continues to sweep us off our feet.