Derby St
Leek ST13 5AJ
UK
Tom Robinson, 6Music
‘Based in Market Drayton, Heidi Emma Peach Browne has been writing and gigging for ten years. Creativity and performance chops are like muscles – the more you use them, the stronger they get. People didn’t place this track in their favourite five because of its hifi production values or glossy arrangement; they loved it because the writing is sharp and direct and the vocal performance is absolutely f*cking immaculate. When most of us get up with a guitar to sing, we tend to concentrate on the playing and throw away the vocal into a nearby microphone almost as an afterthought. Whereas what the audience wants to hear is somebody telling them a story – straight and direct, person to person, heart to heart. Girlfriend is a masterclass in how to do just that – in a radiofriendly 2’39″ flat. Will we be including her on the BBC Introducing Mixtape next month? Damn straight.’