Aimee Cuffe
Introducing Aimee Cuffe, the exciting new indie-pop artist that is set to captivate audiences with her new music.
Hailing from the West of Ireland Aimee takes inspiration from the likes of Lizzy McAlpine and Maggie Rogers to create her unique indie-pop sound. With an emphasis on storytelling Aimee navigates themes of love, loss, and self-discovery with an honesty that is both refreshing and relatable with her new music.
Aimee’s Debut single ‘Before We Were Us’ is set for release on Friday 12th April and is what she describes as the “beginning of her story.” “‘Before We Were Us’ is the first song that I wrote after I decided to pursue a solo career, it meant starting again for me and going out on my own, which was scary and unknown but also exciting, all of those feelings reflect in this song. It’s exactly how I felt at the time when I wrote it.” ‘Before We Were Us’ paints a vivid portrait of the bittersweet beauty of following one’s heart and tells the story of trying to find oneself again after feeling lost for so long. From its introspective lyrics to its irresistible hooks, this single is sure to leave a lasting impression on audiences.
Aimee has previously written and recorded music as part of the duo The Best Part and after deciding to go solo in late 2022 decided to move home and start writing new music from scratch. “As hard as it was to start again in my career, it was very much what I needed to do to stay true to who I am and I think this shows in the music. This music feels so authentically me and it’s really exciting to start sharing that with people. I’m so excited about the music that I have written over the past two years and how the songs have evolved and I hope that they resonate with people who are feeling somewhat lost and like they want to take a risk or pursue something new”
2024 is set to be an exciting year of releases for Aimee with ‘Before We Were Us’ only touching the surface of what is to come from the exciting new artist. Her upcoming music releases are steeped in personal experience and tell the story of self growth and discovery.
Aimee will play an acoustic stripped back set in Belfast on May 16th at Sofar Sounds. Tickets can be purchased here
Maggie Rogers - Alaska
Honestly, the whole Heard It In A Past Life album was a massive influence for me when I started really getting into songwriting, to choose just one song is quite a challenge but I think Alaska encapsulates the authenticity of Maggie and how interesting her songwriting is. I remember listening to it for the first time when I was big into R&B and not really getting it (which is quite hard to believe now as she’s one of my biggest inspirations) and then a few months later I heard the album and was hooked. It really changed my personal style I think, I leaned a lot more into folk pop and I think I owe my love for songwriting to this album and that song.
Lizzy McAlpine - All My Ghosts
Again, the whole Five Seconds Flat album was massively influential for me but I think the song that I drew inspiration from for my upcoming releases in particular was All My Ghosts. I discovered Lizzy’s music at the time when I was considering more and more the idea of pursuing a solo career and I think her music sparked that desire more because It was somewhat relatable in a way that I couldn’t articulate in a group, I felt the authenticity and honesty of her music and lyrics and it inspired me to be more honest with myself in my songwriting, which is defiantly something I’d done before but was something I felt more able to do on my own.
Dermot Kennedy - Innocence and Sadness
Dermot Kennedy has one of those voices that just speaks to my soul. His lyrics and the way he articulates them just hits you hard. Innocence and Sadness is one of those songs that I can just feel the emotion and the feeling to my core. I think I’ll always strive to be the kind of artist that Dermot Kennedy is, the way he shows up in the world and the example he sets, he comes across very humble and kind and emphasises the stories and feelings above the facade of the music industry which I think is quite aspirational. Sonder is another album I have had on rotation, I’m very much an album listener, when I find a collection of work that I love I will listen to it non stop and Sonder was definitely my album of the summer last year, It’s the only CD that I have in my car so it often gets played on long drives.
Sophia James - Still…
Sophia James is an incredibly talented and lesser known artist and this song is perfection. I discovered her EP ‘Lines On The Freeway’ probably two years ago now and like Lizzy’s music it just has that raw honesty. I had written the first few tracks on my EP before discovering this track and the mood and theme of this song and the others on this EP were quite similar to the themes that I was writing about so it resonated a lot with me and still does.
Train - Drops of Jupiter
This is one of my all time favourite songs. I think it influenced me and my songwriting partner in The Best Part a lot and we regularly came back to this as a reference point for the feeling of the song and strived to capture something similar. I remember hearing that the lead singer Pat Monahan wrote this track about his mother who had passed away and I have never listened to the song the same since. It’s a perfect example of how storytelling can be so many different things and how often, even when we don’t know the true meaning we feel the deep emotion in so many different ways, it’s upbeat, euphoric and nostalgic and so heartbreaking all at the same time.
Demi Lovato - Skyscraper
It seems so funny listing this as one of the songs that made me because I haven’t listed to her music in years and I’m quite a different artist than what teenage me had in mind but to not include this song and ignore the very beginning of my musical journey would be a shame.I started singing when I was 10 years old and I was literally obsessed with Demi Lovato. I used to sing Skyscraper as if I had gone through so very much in my life at the tender age of thirteen. I think what it says most about me is that I cared most for what a song could make you feel and the emotional connection to music. My old singing teacher told me that often the first time I sang a song was the best because I didn’t think too much about it, It was just me feeling the song and the emotion resonated and connected with the audience a lot more before I started nitpicking the technical stuff and this always stuck with me.
Taylor Swift - All Too Well
The ten minute version might I add. Taylor Swift was one of my very first musical influences and one of the first albums that I listened to on repeat was Fearless. She’s always been present in my musical library and All Too Well the ten minute version is one of those songs that I am in awe of. The storytelling in this song is so beautiful and how it unfolds and evolves over the ten minute track that doesn’t lose your attention or curiosity is magic.
The Japanese House - Boyhood
I take influence from a number of genres one of them being Electronic/Alternative Indie. There are a number of my upcoming releases and songs that I am currently working on that this really comes across in, partly because it’s very much the style of the producer I’m working with, Adam Redmond, and I think that in itself inspires me to lean more into that with my current writing but partly for the love of this kind of music and the fact that it has always been in my music library. The likes of The Japanese House, Maggie Rogers and London Grammar have that dance element to their tracks and some of my upcoming tracks are definitely down this street which is exciting for me.
London Grammar - Strong
London Grammar is one of those bands who I come back to again and again and their music sparks something different every time for me, I think Strong is one of those songs that will always resonate at different stages of my life. When I started writing as part of The Best Part some of our very first music was this alternative style and we were often compared to London Grammar by those who we played that tracks for. We actually never ended up releasing our first songs as I guess they were written at a time of experimentation and finding who we are and who we wanted to be but listening back to them now there’s definitely something there. My voice has often been compared to the lead singers voice and while I don’t see it I’ve always been told my voice is quite unique and I think that of her voice so I guess the similarity is there.
Kasey Musgrave's - Slow Burn
I have always been a massive fan of country music and this song is a favourite, it’s another one of those perfect songs. A lot of the melodies I write are very much country inspired without the intention of being that way, sometimes I have to rewrite the melody or change it slightly to steer away from being completely a country song and changing my genre completely. The next collection of songs I write, I want to write predominantly on guitar and keep them very acoustic and stripped back so perhaps some of these country melodies will surface as when I write with guitar it’s inevitable that they come out sounding more country and folk influenced.
