Leigh-Anne: “It’s been a healing process”

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After 11 years with Little Mix, Leigh-Anne is embarking on a solo journey of raw honesty and self-discovery, stripping away layers to reveal her most authentic self.

Words: Ali Shutler.
Photos: Lou Jasmine, Adama Jalloh.

“To be at the beginning of something new is just so exciting,” beams Leigh-Anne. After spending 11 years in one of the best girl bands to ever do it, the past 12 months have seen her start over as a solo artist.

“It’s such a different world to being in Little Mix,” she admits. At first, she found it overwhelming not being part of a group and having to trust her own gut, but the more she’s done it, the more confident she’s become. “I’ve really just settled into myself and my tastes,” she continues. “I have so much creative control now. I can express exactly what I want to express, and talk about what I need to talk about. Yes, everything is different, but it feels freeing,” Leigh-Anne says. “Now I get to carve out who I am as an artist and show what I can offer people.”

As soon as Leigh-Anne announced herself as a solo artist last June with the absolutely massive, open-hearted ‘Don’t Say Love’, she started teasing a debut album. “I thought I’d release three singles and go straight into dropping it,” she admits. “As the process went on, though, I just felt like I wasn’t ready for the album.” Instead, she’s gearing up to release a smaller collection of songs. 

Thanks to the success of Little Mix and the devotion they inspired from fans worldwide, Leigh-Anne knows she’s not exactly starting her solo career from scratch, “but I am essentially a new artist who is at the start of building something,” she offers. “I’m still growing, I’m still finding my feet, and I’m still experimenting, all of which is normal for a new project.” She goes on to say she’s still working on her debut album. “I definitely feel like it’s there, and I’m excited for it to finally come out. The pressure has been taken off a little bit now, though, and I feel a lot more comfortable about it.”

Part of that comfort has come from blocking out social media noise. “It’s easy to get sucked into worrying about what other people think I should be doing or achieving, especially because Little Mix were so huge. There are obviously going to be expectations, but I’m just really focused on doing my own thing, which is putting out music that I think is brilliant,”

“I absolutely loved what we did in the group, but what I’m doing right now is completely different,” she says. If it wasn’t different, what would be the point of leaving the safety of the group in the first place?

“This record is me stripping some of those layers away and just being open about my story”

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After big, pop-infused songs like ‘Don’t Say Love’ and ‘My Love’, that upcoming body of work sees Leigh-Anne shimmy away from polished spectacle and lean into creating something more intimate. “It’s definitely the most raw I’ve been,” she explains. “Those early singles and the massive videos were such amazing moments, but this record is me stripping some of those layers away and just being open about my story. It’s scary, but I hope it allows people to come into my world more.”

When she first started writing music for her solo career, Leigh-Anne wanted to explore all the different things she was experiencing – being a new mother, leaving the band, stepping into her power – but she kept coming back to her relationship with her husband, Andre Gray.

“I really do lead with love,” she says. “If I’m hurt in love, or if I’m happy in love, that really does affect me. And at the beginning of my relationship with Andre, he put me through some crap where I was left hurt and didn’t know if we were going to make it. At the same time, I had to pretend everything was ok,” she continues. She didn’t feel like she could talk about it with the rest of Little Mix despite their tight bond, and those feelings were left unexplored. “I just never really healed from it,” says Leigh-Anne. “When I went into the studio, I felt like I needed to get it off my chest, and it’s been a healing process.”

The entirety of Leigh-Anne’s upcoming record is about her relationship with her husband. “There have been sad times, sexy times and happy times, so it’s definitely a journey of emotions,” she explains.

The first chapter of the currently-unannounced #NHF story is ‘Stealing Love’, a beautiful, tightly-wound track about not receiving the love you deserve in a relationship, while the second is ‘Forbidden Fruit’. “I never really wanted to talk about how I met my husband because it was forbidden fruit,” says Leigh-Anne. “We were both in situations, but we genuinely couldn’t deny the love that we had for each other.” As she sings in the song, “Broke a couple hearts just to be forever”.

“I don’t really want to get too into it because it still feels wrong. When I talk about it, I still feel icky,” she continues. “But at the same time, love had to come first.”

“The way that I’m attacking this solo era is by wanting to be as honest as I can,” says Leigh-Anne. But that’s also a daunting prospect, considering how many people are listening. “Obviously, people don’t know this stuff,” she explains. “People assume things are always great, especially because you only post the good bits on social media. But let’s face it, nothing is ever perfect. It’s been really freeing to embrace that.”

She hopes people can find hope in her raw, vulnerable storytelling. “There are so many songs about heartbreak and breakups, but this story is about finding a way through. It’s about making things work. It would have been really easy for me to walk away from that relationship, but now we’re married, and we have our twins. All of that came from fighting for each other.” It’s a far cry from the colourful, bright and happy world of Little Mix, but it’s not a complete departure. “We always wanted to inspire people, and I’ve definitely taken that with me into my solo music,” Leigh-Anne adds. “It’s so important to spread a joyful message.”

“Let’s face it, nothing is ever perfect. It’s been really freeing to embrace that”

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Musically, both ‘Forbidden Fruit’ and ‘Stealing Love’ are inspired by Leigh-Anne’s Jamaican roots and a lifetime of listening to reggae and R&B, cut with her natural affinity for pop music. “It’s all about fusing the sounds that I love,” she says. Both tracks should give fans a taste of the honesty they can expect across the upcoming record, but musically, Leigh-Anne promises the unexpected. “I’m inspired by so much music, I don’t think I could ever have a collection of songs that all sound the same.”

Growing up, Leigh-Anne could always see herself as a “massive pop artist”. She was obsessed with Rihanna and started singing in her bedroom because of Mariah Carey. “I never quite hit the high notes, but I tried,” she grins. In the months leading up to her X-Factor audition, the 19-year-old, with a part-time job in Pizza Hut and plans to go to Uni, fell in love with the music of Alexis Jordan. 

What happened next is the stuff of pop legend. After sharing her dream to be “the female Justin Bieber” and singing a cover of ‘Only Girl In The World’, Leigh-Anne was eventually put in a group alongside Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall and Jesy Nelson. From there, Little Mix went on to defy expectations by winning The X Factor. While most contestants fizzled out, the band only went from strength to strength. “We always had to prove something, though,” says Leigh-Anne. “Because we were with a girl band, because we were with [Simon Cowell’s record label] Syco Music, because we were on The X Factor, people just saw us as these puppets, but we really weren’t. We were four strong women who had opinions and knew what they wanted. Everything did come from us.”

“We just didn’t stop,” Leigh-Anne continues. The band released six albums in eight years, each one bigger than the last, and toured extensively with sprawling arena runs regularly featuring matinee and evening performances to keep up with demand.

Eventually, the narrative shifted from Little Mix’s success as fairy tale good luck to being the result of their own hard work. In 2021, they became the first female group to win Best British Group at the BRIT Awards, shouting out the likes of The Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints and Girls Aloud during a celebratory acceptance speech.

“It always felt so relatable,” says Leigh-Anne of Little Mix’s success. “People could see we were just four normal girls from working-class backgrounds. People felt like they could be our friend.”

Months after their history-making win at the BRITs, Jade, Perrie, and Leigh-Anne confirmed the band would be going on hiatus following a farewell tour. “We feel the time is right to take a break so we can recharge and work on some other projects,” they said in a statement.

“I had grown up wanting to be a solo artist, but when I was in Little Mix, I never considered it for a moment,” admits Leigh-Anne. “It always just felt so right, and we had this ‘in it together’ mentality.” Eventually, talk turned to exploring life outside of the band, though. “It just felt like we’d have to try it eventually, and it seemed like the right time,” she explains. Especially with her and Perrie becoming new mums. “Before we had that conversation about going on hiatus, though, no one was working on their own music.” As soon as the 28-date arena tour was finished, Leigh-Anne flew to Jamaica for her first solo writing session. “I’ve had some songs finished for such a long time now; I’m dying to get them out,” she grins.

“We all need our own individual moments”

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In the following months, people kept digging for some sort of drama between the three, but Jade, Perrie and Leigh-Anne have constantly celebrated one another. “The three of us have this genuine sisterhood, and no one else will ever get it,” she explains. “In fact, that last tour was so beautiful that there were times when we asked if we should just carry on as Little Mix because it felt so good. I don’t think it would have worked at that point in our lives, though,” she adds.

Since Little Mix went on hiatus, Leigh-Anne has never been tempted to pick up the phone and ask about a reunion, either. “I miss them so much. When you’ve worked so hard for something, and you finally get it, the idea of starting again is daunting, but I’ve been having so much fun. We’ve all said it, but it’s actually quite nice to have something of your own. We are 100% going to do a reunion; how can we not?” asks Leigh-Anne. “But for this moment in time, we all need our own individual moments.”

“In the beginning, I was petrified to take this on, but I’ve really enjoyed the past year. I’ve proven to myself that I can do this and really say things with my chest,” says Leigh-Anne. Despite that fear, she threw herself into a solo career because, “I believe in my talent. I believe in myself and also, I just love to sing,” she continues. “There’s plenty of things I could do,” she explains, having already starred in British comedy Boxing Day and still wanting to try her hand at action and drama films. “But I know music is where I’m supposed to be. I’m excited to see where it’s going to take me next.”

Towards the end of Little Mix and the months that followed, Leigh-Anne also reckoned with the isolation she felt as the only Black member of the band. In 2021, she released the BBC Three documentary Race, Power and Pop and spoke openly about her own experiences with racism on social media and in interviews. “As much as it’s a reality and it needs speaking about, I also need to protect my own mental health,” says Leigh-Anne. “Trying to navigate the world of pop as a mixed Black woman is wild. There are plenty of things about it that I talk about in therapy. I don’t want to feel like I need to talk about it all the time, either.”

“It’s about using my voice where I can,” Leigh-Anne continues. In 2021, she set up The Black Fund alongside her husband, Andre, and her sister, Sairah. The organisation’s vision is “a world with real equality would look past what we are, and focus on who we are,” and has provided funding for a number of charities that deal with mental health. The Black Fund is also currently working with Grounded Sounds, an organisation that provides workshops and opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to learn about music. “They’re all about nurturing new talent, which is really cool,” says Leigh-Anne.

“You can get so much scrutiny for using your voice, but The Black Fund is one of the most important things I’ve ever done. I was sick of just talking about race and all the challenges I’ve faced. I wanted to actually do something to make a difference.”

Despite the battles she’s faced in music over the years, Leigh-Anne’s solo career has quickly become a place of joy. “It feels like such a celebration of who I am and my culture,” says Leigh-Anne, who has both Bajan and Jamaican roots. “I want to make sure I’m not boxed in either,” she continues, already aware that people will try and categorise her music as R&B regardless of what it actually sounds like. “I also feel like if I can inspire the next Black girl in pop, that would be amazing.”

“It’s going to feel like people are in my bedroom with me, going through the same emotions”

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A few days before the one-year anniversary of releasing her debut solo track, Leigh-Anne will be taking to London’s Lafayette for her first headline show as a solo artist. With space for just 600 fans, it’s potentially the smallest show she’s ever played. “I wanted to do something really intimate for this era. It’s going to feel like people are in my bedroom with me, going through the same emotions.” Rather than a toe into the water of playing live, Leigh-Anne knows she wants to do more gigs. “It feels like the start of something,” she explains.

She’s looking forward to being able to reach out and hold hands with the audience and also show them something a bit different. “I don’t think people are going to expect the type of show I’ve got planned,” she teases.

“I’m not saying I want to go in the same direction as her, but I look at artists like Doja Cat, and she’s just so fucking sick. Her recent performance at Coachella was unbelievable. I was really inspired by that because she’s just so innovative and is constantly thinking outside the box in an attempt to create something different. That’s where I’m trying to head,” says Leigh-Anne. Can she see herself headlining festivals and arenas, too?  

“I mean, I’m always going to aim for the top,” she grins. “I do want to be an international star. That has always been the goal, after all, but I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I don’t need to,” she continues.

“I keep asking myself what success means to me, and it’s changed from what it was when I was in Little Mix,” says Leigh-Anne, with the group constantly aiming to be as big as possible. “We achieved a lot, but for me, my number one goal now is to be happy. I’ve already had a phenomenal first year. I’m just going to keep working hard and putting good shit out,” she says, confident in her music, her vision and the road ahead. “I honestly spent too long trying to prove my talent and prove myself to other people. I’m tired of it. Now, I just want to do me because that’s enough.”

Taken from the June 2024 issue of Dork.

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