INTRODUCING ... DARLING
From the unlikely setting of a bedroom studio in Greasby , Wirral , emerges DARLING , a dynamic electronic dance / pop duo aiming to shake up the Merseyside music scene with their freshly formed sound . Consisting of vocalist / songwriter Lauren Harthorpe and Producer Dan Davies , their debut single , Victim , was released independently in Jan 2024 after being premiered on BBC Radio ’ s Introducing program .
Members : Dan and Lauren met while attending neighbouring high schools in Birkenhead , but it wasn ’ t until almost six years later that they rekindled their friendship and decided to start DARLING . The pair have taken two very different paths to becoming the musicians that they are today , a fact which they claim has contributed to their unique sound .
Lauren : DARLING is Lauren Harthorpe ’ s first foray into the popular music scene ; having come from a musical theatre background , she has demonstrated her versatility as a vocalist through her numerous performances on stage . She recently starred in the principal role of Allegra in the regional premiere of the musical The Coup Coup Club .
Additionally , she has worked with The Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool , where she teaches at the youth theatre and also took on the role of Musical Director for the first time with their tour of the show Reckless . She draws influences from the wide-ranging vocal stylings of Carrie Fletcher , Becky Hill , and Trove Lo , among many others .
Dan : Dan Davies is a familiar face in the Liverpool music scene ; as the ex-frontman of the group Brass Antelope and keyboard player for TRAITS , Dan calls on his experience as a multi-instrumentalist and producer to craft the electronic beats behind DARLING . A selfdescribed “ synthesiser-nerd ”, Dan has been writing musAic and experimenting with electronic hardware and software since a young age . Some of the sounds in the music of DARLING come from opensource synthesiser software , which he coded himself . He self-produces all of DARLING ’ s music from his bedroom studio in Greasby . everything together on the computer . We try not to be too precious about anything we write , our first single has over 15 drafts ; if you listen to the first recording compared to what we ended up releasing , it ’ s almost like listening to two different songs .”
What are your go-to influences when it comes to writing music ?
“ We take aspects of house , pop , and even musical theatre and mix them all together in our tracks . One of the first things we did when we started writing music was create a shared Spotify playlist where we each added songs that we thought captured the types of sound we were going for . The playlist is pretty eclectic . The songs range from very energetic house / electronic tracks from Becky Hill , Katy B , and Calvin Harris to more chilled , vocal lead pop from RAYE , Labrinth , and James Blake .”
Do you have plans to release any more music soon ?
“ We have recorded another three songs that are pretty much ready to go , which will get released in the upcoming months . We also are working on a music video for Victim , which should be coming out in February … if all goes to plan !”
Have you got any upcoming shows ?
“ We are both passionate about performing . It ’ s one of the main reasons we started DARLING . We intend to flesh out our setlist a little bit more and start gigging soon . We ’ d love to also play at some festival slots in the summer . We both love going to gigs and experiencing live music . It ’ s got us itching to get out there and do it ourselves .”
What is your song writing process ?
“ We usually flesh out our songs using a synthesiser , paired with a loop pedal , which we use to layer synth and vocals before we bring wirrallife . com 57