Inspiration can come from anywhere. Whether you are working with a canvas and paints, pen and paper, or in this case, music and songwriting, the muse can appear at any moment. Maybe it came from a word or a phrase you remembered, or a film or book became the inspiration and motivation for the sequel.
In Danish singer Simone Ledet’s case, with only six years of experience in making music, it came from travel.
“I am definitely like a travel addict. I need to have something planned,” Ledet said. “I wrote one of the songs in LA, and then I wrote, I think two of the songs in London and then the rest of them here in Copenhagen. But I feel like it’s so special, like doing these trips and finding people that you really enjoy working with in like different parts of the world.”
Her inspiration culminated into her debut EP, quicksand, which released in June 5. Ledet explained the tracks, five in total, feel extremely personal to her. Since “Blame You,” which was the first song created, they have each been a testament to “a journey” about getting to know herself. Ledet, alongside her producer and husband, Mathias Thunbo, created a debut that is truly her in music form, mixed and mashed with different genres that represent her experiences as a musician and as a recently solo artist.
Hi Simone! It is so nice to finally get to talk to you in person! To start off, what can you tell me about this debut? What does it feel like to finally have it out?
I started making music six years ago, and I started singing when I was super young. I evolved into songwriting and making music, but I never really thought of myself as an artist. I liked music, and I liked making music, but after writing all of these songs and working as a songwriter for other artists, I realized I needed to say some things myself. A year and a half ago, I wrote a song called “Blame You,” which is on the EP, and I was like, “Oh, this is special.”
You have been writing for other artists in the past. Do you remember a specific moment that you were thought “it’s time for me to the one artist performing and writing these songs for myself?”
Yeah, I feel like that was with the song “Blame You.” I went on a writing trip to London, and we wrote this song. It’s about being mid-fight with someone—it can be any relationship in your life. I was like, it’s so weird, the emotions we go through as humans. It’s a very specific thing. It’s so random to write a song about that. I feel like it’s a topic that, why would you dive into that? But at that point, I felt like I could really relate to it. I think that was the starting point for me wanting to make something for myself.
That is an amazing way to start off an amazing career. How did it feel to perform and promote music where you are the sole face instead of promoting someone else’s finished track?
I feel like it’s been so fun and challenging to put my own face on the music that I’ve made. As a songwriter, you’re used to having someone else’s name, and you can hide a little bit. But this is so personal. All of the songs are so personal, and then it’s my face. I feel like it’s really nice to put something into the world where it’s really me.
So tell me more about the traveling that has come from this. What has been the biggest change for you in that aspect?
Oh, I am definitely a travel addict. I need to have something planned, and it’s so bad. It keeps me broke, but I will go on that journey. I wrote one of the songs in LA, then I wrote two of the songs in London, and the rest of them here in Copenhagen. I feel like it’s so special doing these trips and finding people that you really enjoy working with in different parts of the world. The women songwriters who worked on the tracks with me—I just feel like it’s magical having these connections across the world. It’s crazy. I want to write with these writers for my project every day.
English is not my first language, so when I write, I really want to have someone in the room who’s fluent because I have a limit, and I want to get all the small things that I don’t know about the songs as well. Then something magical happens because it’s not my first language. I can be like, “Can you say this?” and they’re like, “No, but maybe we can do it anyway,” because it’s kind of fun. It’s a fun way of saying stuff.
How did traveling and working with people from different places and performing influence quicksand?
I’ve always been so inspired by the music scene in America. It’s all the pop girlies. I grew up listening to Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, all of the girls, all of the divas. They’re my moms. So I’ve never really been into the Danish music scene. The international music scene has always had a big influence on me. I feel like going different places and experiencing the music scene on my own has also changed my perception of what music can be or what it should be.
Now I’m on vacation, but I am charging up. I’m getting ready to write some more. I have a couple of demos I’m going to finish up, and I feel like it’s definitely influenced me, being in different parts of the world. One of the writers who worked on some of the tracks lives in London, and she’s really into hyperpop and industrial electronic sounds. I’m like, that shit is crazy. I could step into that a little bit more, but I’m definitely inspired by American R&B.
When it comes to the question of age, do you think that your music targets younger audiences? You did say that this one is about people in their early twenties, but do you think it would also cater towards older fans?
Yeah, I mean, I hope so. I feel like the songs that I’ve put out now, you need to have lived a little to understand them. But I hope that someone older can really relate. If some of the songs that I made could mean something to someone, whatever their age is, I would be so happy.
I met one of my old friends a couple of weeks ago, and she was like, “One of the tracks on the EP is so special to me. I cried so much to that song,” and I was like, that’s it. That’s all I want. Just one person being affected by the music is more than I could dream of. I feel like it’s so fun to hear.
That is a perfect way to transition into our next section. The emotional concept of songs, the lyrics, you know, what you were thinking when you wrote the lyrics. So, for quicksand, can you tell me more about the title? What does it mean to you?
I feel like “Quicksand”—it was a year ago that we wrote it. I was so confused about life. I had just finished my master’s degree in music a year ago, and I was like, I can’t use this for anything. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do with life. I don’t know what to do with anything. I felt like I was stuck between these two versions of myself. I wanted to move, but it felt like something was holding on to me, like being stuck in quicksand.
You feel like you can just take one step, then you’re going to get there, but sometimes it’s so much harder to take that first step into something. So I feel like the title track is about feeling stuck in a lot of things in life. It was an imagination song about, “If I do this, I’m going to do it fully.”
The feeling of being stuck can be a very dark and scary feeling, you know. The courage to move through these feelings. So when you were writing the lyrics, what was the most difficult emotion to confront for you?
I feel like probably the darkest song, or the most difficult song to write for me, was probably “Cinnamon Sugar.” It’s funny because it’s such a pop or pop R&B, really bouncy track. It’s about watching someone close to me disappear into a relationship that took over their life. I’d known this person since I was really young. We’ve grown up together, and then this relationship happens, and I’m like, wow, this is crazy.
I’ve been wanting to put that into a song for some time. I don’t know if it’s the right angle to say this stuff, but I feel like it’s definitely a way of telling this person that, “If you’re ever going to leave, which I hope you will, I’m going to be there, but you’re going to have to wake up.” I feel like that was definitely the hardest song to write for me because it’s also so personal, and I feel like it’s such a weird topic to write about.
For “Blame You,” it’s kind of heavy, but it’s very atmospheric. It makes you feel like you’re floating.
How did you find that balance between the two when you were writing that track? Like the heavy ad the floaty?
Oh my god, how did we do that? I think it was a year and a half since we wrote the song, but I feel like the really heavy 808s and crunchy synthesizers were trying to make it sound as mean as possible. Then I feel like the floaty part is the vocal stacks and also my lead vocal being so airy and breathy on top of the whole heavy thing. I feel like the lyrics are mixed into all of that. I don’t know if it makes sense, but I feel like that’s really defining for “Blame You.”
Also, being kind of fun in the chorus with the “think, think, think, think,” dance-y kind of vibe. You could do a little choreo to it and stuff, but it’s not a great feeling to have when you’re in a relationship and you’re not on the same page.
How did you decide on the final five track sequence? Was it kind of something that came up all of a sudden or was it planned since the beginning?
Definitely not planned. I think it was late September into October last year. My husband, who’s the producer of the whole thing, and I went to what we call a summer house in Denmark. We had a week there and were just finishing up songs, trying to figure things out.
We were writing everything down on paper and putting it out on a table, asking, “What do we really love? Do we love all the songs?” Because if we did, we were going to do an album, but if we didn’t, then we were just going to do an EP. We were like, okay, we don’t love all the songs. Let’s scratch some, maybe rework them, maybe not.
By the end of the week, we had worked on the songs that we really loved and put them together. Then we had the five songs. That was the EP. We were like, “Do they work together? Does it make sense to put them into an EP?” But then we were like, yeah, actually it does, because for me, it’s a personal reflection on life. It’s glimpses into moments of my life or my thoughts.
I am such an overthinker. I feel like I think, think, think, and I get so tired of thinking. Like, can I have a break? So it’s a lot of thoughts put into songs, and they’re all connected.
It all connected so well together. So then what did it feel like when you released it? How do you feel like you have evolved as an artist?
Oh, it’s so fun. It’s been so fun to release and so weird putting stuff out and then being like, okay, what do we do now? I feel like it’s so nice putting a pin in something and being like, these are the songs of this period in my life. I kind of like it. It gives me a feeling of freedom.
On release night, I was like, shit, what do I do? Where do I go now? I have a couple of songs that I want to release or work on, but where do we go? Now I feel like it gives me a lot of freedom because I can do whatever. I’m an independent girl. I can make a song tomorrow and release it tomorrow if I want to. I’m probably not going to because I’m really a perfectionist, and I want to get it mixed and mastered and everything. But I could if I wanted to.
And now, of course, you are going to be performing as a solo artist, and it will become a bigger career opportunity for you as an artist. What is that one song that you are the most excited to perform or you want fans to listen to and be in the moment when you are on stage?
Oh, I feel like I’ve had a lot of fun performing. My friend Melde is playing the trumpet in the outro part of the song, and we’ve also been playing it live. He’s just so incredible, and I feel like it’s such a special moment bringing him on stage. Some of the other songs are so punchy, energetic, and fun to perform, but I always love having that moment playing “Another Lifetime.”
Also because it’s the only song that I wrote almost completely by myself. I just wrote it with Matthias, so the lyrics are so special to me, and I feel like I’m really saying what I want to say. It’s always really special to perform that one.
But also “Ghost.” I’ve been playing that on the piano and having a more low-key moment with the bass, the piano, and a guitar. I think that’s an emotional release for me, definitely.
Yeah. Let’s see, if you had a final message that you would want your listeners (5:20) to take away from the album, what would it be? And it doesn’t have to be just one. What would you hope that they take away from your music?
I mean, I don’t know if it’s hopeful music, but for me, if you were to take one thing away, it’s, you’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. You’re going to figure it out.
It’s okay that stuff happens in your life. And it’s okay that you’re trying stuff out and that you’re not the same person today that you were yesterday. I feel like that’s probably what I want people to take with them, and that it’s okay to have emotions and feelings. Especially as a woman, you don’t have to be happy all the time. That’s kind of a confusing answer. But yeah, be yourself. And it’s okay to change. That’s probably it. Yeah. Change is good.
quicksand is available now for streaming.
Keep up with Simone Ledet: Instagram / Spotify / YouTube / TikTok
