In recent years, Connie Constance (real name Constance Rose Power) has been on a journey of self discovery. Though she is notably mild mannered, prone to fits of giggles and a self-described “fairy bitch”, she recently got her full astrological chart which described her personality type as an aggravator and it really resonated with her. “I’ve been doing that without realising it,” she says before her tone becomes incredulous. “I never knew it would be such a big thing to want to make indie music”.
Over the last few years she’s had to make bold moves like leaving major labels behind to carve her own path. She spent the last two years releasing on her independent label Jump The Fence and has now signed with indie label PIAS, she has been busy creating create indie pop tracks infused with punk and soul that feel true to her riotous roots. It’s taken some strength and convictions in her own voice. “I feel like I’m finally being treated as an adult and creative partner versus a young crazy creative girl,” she says. It’s a stark contrast from the days where she was making songs that didn’t sound like what she listened to. However as a Nigerian-British artist, she believes the UK music industry struggled to understand alternative women of colour as previous label staff likened her to other mixed race British singers Corinne Bailey Rae, Mabel and Jorja Smith (“I was like dude let them do their thing”) and told her “we don’t know how to market you with braids”.
The Watford-born 27-year-old has remained laser focussed on putting out music that fits how she sees the world rather than how the world sees her. And she takes her place among rising alternative black girls from WILLOW to Nova Twins who have proved that natural hair and underground sounds don’t make you too niche.
Her new album, Miss Power, is both nostalgic and zeitgeist, imbued with powerful drums, playful guitar riffs, and anthemic feminist rage via playful lyricism like: “I’m not your perfect little princess and I have my own unique vagina”. These lyrics hint at the way women have to rally against external voices.
She says that this album is the first time she’s felt she’s done exactly what she wanted to do, dubbing her sound “a fairy bitch genre” as that’s the vibe she feels when she wakes up in the morning. The concept record was written as if an ancient fairy from tens of thousands of years ago was frozen in time and they woke up today. It starts with being wowed by the excitement, the shining lights, the buzz and how fun it is to be young right now, but then it spirals downward as signposted by titles like ‘Hurt You’ and ‘Kamikaze’, which she calls a “feminist anthem”.
Connie’s excitement to venture out into the world as her authentic self is palpable, and by the sounds of it, she’s ready to step into her power.