Good morning! Last week someone clued me in on a new and upcoming artist named Neon Hitch who just happens to be Amy Winehouse‘s flatmate (i had zero clue that Ms. Winehouse had a roomie …). Upon my very first listen of her track My Book (listen below) I was instantly sold on Ms. Hitch which doesn’t happen very often but something about her vibe struck me and I couldn’t wait to do a post here on PopBytes about ms. Neon Hitch (she reminds me of a cross between Lily Allen and Nelly Furtado with a small dash of Peaches tossed in, her bio is located below) PopBytes over & out for now … xxoo!
Listen to Neon Hitch’s My Book
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Take the most tangible aspects of music, candy-coat them and light them on fire. That is the only way to picture the sound of Neon Hitch. Born to a family of gypsies deep within the countryside in the south of England, Neon Hitch holds a personal her-story that most creative geniuses dream about having. While many artists are bred from suburbia and craft delicate tales of the what-ifs, Neon Hitch (yes, that’s her birth name) has actually seen and lived the life of a true free spirit. The young siren spent her early years in a traveling circus with her family. A trapeze artist and fire swinger, Neon nurtured her inner performer early on in festivals throughout Portugal, Spain, France, and other parts of Europe.
By 15, Neon left her family to find her place in the world. She ended up in India, and after a period of soul searching, returned to London to fuel her creative fire. “I always knew I wanted to be a performer of some sort, but I never knew I could sing,” the pixie starlet admits. It was her boyfriend who noticed her natural gift and urged her to hone it. Some years and many gigs later, Neon Hitch finds herself ready to unleash her audible beauty into the universe. “People always ask me what genre [of music] do I make? I make kind of Pop with gypsy vibes, but my lyrics are the stories that I’ve lived,” she explains.
Neon Identifies her style with early Nelly Furtado (before the hot pants and Timbaland), only with that ethereal something she likes to relate to her gypsy roots. “I was worried to tell people I’m a gypsy,” she admits. “I’m not like the kind of gypsy that thieves…I’m the kind that we live with the earth and are creative – making a living as street performers.” Having stage presence in her blood, it’s the young explorer’s only real home. “It’s what I live for,” she gleefully exclaims.
Neon has shared stages with artists like the Streets and 50 Cent, but is also presently the flatmate of Amy Winehouse, a friend who is also her industry confidant. “[Amy] gives me a lot of advice. She’s good to me.” Bouncing back and forth between the creative havens of London and Brooklyn, Neon gears up for the release of her album. Her music is like her life story – rich and organic, with plush vocals that hold soundscapes of grandeur. Her songs shift from slick electro-pop to Hip-Hop infused chamber music; each note reflecting a personal anecdote in the life of a true wanderlust. With both physical beauty and vocal grace, she is the artist we have been waiting for. The world has yet to experience the surprises that Neon Hitch embodies in her pursuit of changing the face of music.
It’s very rare that one can actually fill an album with true and vivid fairy tales, but Neon Hitch is that rarity. She is destined to be one of the great musical storytellers, with a career firmly planted within the earth like the origin of her being. As her moniker states, Neon is meant to shine. “My dad named me Neon,” she says fondly. “He works with light shows and stuff. So it was written, man…” and with a coy smile, she continues. “…I’ve even got the name.”
