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If you’ve been wondering where soulful pristine voices are keeping themselves these days, turns out they are pathing from New Zealand via the BRIT School in London. A nonobvious route we grant you, but for emerging chanteuse JANAYAH, she has poured some vocal fuel onto what has already been a hot July, and the first single off her upcoming EP Can’t Get Enough is your sonic concierge—a song that keeps delivering after ever play. Wanting to dig into this single and what else this MasterCard x OTW Artist Accelerator artist has in store, we sent some letters to her in London to spill the tea. 

Also impressive as JANAYAH is on track, we’ve been spoiled to meet her and we can’t state how impressive her voice is live. If you happen to be in Berlin next week, or know anyone who loves a live voice, send them here next Wednesday. 

OnesToWatch: We are so excited for your new music, but before we get ahead of ourselves, who is JANAYAH?  

JANAYAH: Hi! I’m a singer-songwriter based in London, but I’m originally from New Zealand, born and raised in Auckland and am Polynesian by descent. I have always wanted to be involved in music. In fact, since I can remember, all I’ve ever wanted to do was sing and I spent my formative years performing wherever I could and then when I was accepted into the BRIT School in 2022, I was so excited and moved halfway round the world to London to pursue my passion for music. BRIT was amazing, it was so awesome to be in an environment that nurtured the creative process and encouraged us to absorb as much about music as we could. Having completed my two years at the BRIT School, I am now concentrating on developing my music. I am an independent artist recording and releasing new songs and it’s all been a massive learning curve, but I’m so here for it. Music is where I feel most comfortable and confident and haven’t ever felt the need to look at other options for the future, it’s only ever been music. I have always loved and related to strong vocalists who empower women through their messages in song and really show their emotions through their storytelling. I would say a lot of them from all different genres influence my music and technique in how I sing today.

Besides us feeling the same way about the tune, what is "Can’t Get Enough" all about? 

"Can’t Get Enough" is a bit of a cheeky one. It’s self-explanatory in the title, but to break it down, it’s when you know you shouldn’t be doing something but you do it anyway because it gives you that adrenaline rush and you just can’t get enough of it! It’s a carefree song that doesn’t sensor that emotion or feeling you may get, and as an expressive artist, I loved making this song with my friends. It also allows me to break loose on the vocals!

We love the throwback vibes of the track. How’d you settle on the sound for the single?  

I would say it wasn’t a “let’s make this sound” kind of session. It was kind of formed by osmosis as we developed the song. I worked with two friends Seb and Alfie on this song, Seb started playing the keys and then each of us contributed to develop that cool vibe and made it happen. We were all loving the groovy energy and the beat and continuously hyped each other’s ideas up throughout the session which made it even more exciting. We just kept working on it until we had nailed down the sound and lyrics and that’s how you have “Can’t Get Enough” as it is today. 

Any collaborations or features? Who produced the track?  

Yes! As an up-and-coming artist, it’s important for me to collaborate and learn from others to develop my ideas and that’s exactly what I did. I worked with producers Alfie and Seb who produce under the name Search&Rescue. We had kind of known of each other through The Brit School—they were a year ahead of me and studying music tech, but I had never really spoken to them until I saw that they were looking for artists to make music with and reached out! We found we worked well together, and as a result, have also collaborated on a couple of other songs due for release soon and will make up part of my upcoming EP.

How do you keep those vocal cords in good shape (gurl you can sing)? 

Thank you! 😊. I don’t do anything overly special, I probably should do more but I definitely amp up the care if I have a performance coming up. I try and keep away from too much milk, I love a good honey, lemon, ginger drink and I also swear by something as simple as warm salt water gargles, it’s the best way to keep any throat infections at bay. It’s also really important to warm up the vocal cords before singing, especially for getting into the big notes.

Can we expect more of this style in the future? 

Definitely. I love this sound and I feel it is a good fit for me. Saying that though, I also don’t want to be pigeon-holed into one genre. I have done EDM previously and will be doing more of that along with strong ballads which I also love singing. I love creating and working on music that is meaningful to me so I am excited for the future and for you to hear what more I can do.

Besides this excellent single, what else should we be on the lookout for? 

There is so much more to come! I’ve been working hard on writing and developing new songs and of course I want to be getting out there and performing them for everyone. I’ve got more new music coming out over the next few months culminating in my Debut EP which I’m very excited to share with you! 

What's inspiring you right now outside of music? 

Honestly, music is everything to me, so it takes up a lot of my time but other inspirations would be hanging out with my friends most of who are involved in music and I love to see what they are doing and following their journey. I also get really inspired by traveling. I love to travel as it really opens me up to so many new experiences, different cultures, languages, and history. I have traveled to a lot of the Pacific Islands which is part of my heritage and now since being in the UK, I have been lucky enough to visit some of Europe and Los Angeles as well as discover the UK. I feel very fortunate to be able to have these experiences and it really helps with my creativity.

Take us to the best place in London to listen to your music? 

London is awesome, such a vibe and has so much history. Very different from where I grew up which is mainly beaches and open spaces! There are so many cool places to hang out in London, the markets, the Southbank by the river, so many pubs and music venues, Camden etc. There is always something happening and so many interesting people about. If I were to pick one place though, it would have to be one of the great parks that provide awesome green spaces in the city and this could be any park in London to listen to my music and chill (we get extra lucky in London if it’s sunny).

Who are your OnesToWatch?

When I first arrived in London one of my friends told me about a band from Surrey called Two Weeks In Nashville (also known as TWIN) and I have been lucky enough now to see them perform quite a few times. They have an indie rock sound with a modern twist and they are awesome. I think they are definitely on the top of my list for OnesToWatch.

Listen to "Can't Get Enough" below: