Yazmin Lacey on Her Latest Album ‘Voice Notes’ , Escapism and How She Shaped Her Sound [@Yazmin_Lacey]

We caught up with Yazmin Lacey to dive into her album, the joys of escapism, and how her past experiences have helped shape her sound and artistic direction.

Marvin: You’ve recently done a show in Japan. Massive congrats on this. How was the performance and did this make you feel reflective in any type of way on your journey? 

Yazmin Lacey: It was really good, but it was really go, go go – I’ve never done anything that far, with jet lag and show after show, so it was quite an experience, when it got to the final show I was really teary afterwards, it is a big deal you know. 

Marvin: How was the process of creating your debut album?

Yazmin Lacey: The minute I put a title on it I felt really nervous. There was a bit of nerves but I was like ah sod it, and put that to one side, stopped talking about it, and do what I usually do – which is make music. A lot of times I was like is this right? The process was amazing because my process is like – can we actually get to know each other first! I don’t really like doing it blind like hi morning, cool – should we make a song today? So, with all the producers we just talked a lot. In the first session I was like ‘by the way so you know we ain’t making any music today’ – we were just chilling and chatting and eating, and we caught loads of jokes and I think because it was so chill by the time the music came that bit just rolled out, none of that stuff was stressful or felt forced. 

Marvin: I loved the song “late night people” – what would you say brought upon this desire for escapism? 

Yazmin Lacey: Because I live in the space of late night people babe! I’m not just writing this stuff for jokes! Sometimes to my detriment, I love escapism, and when I’m in an environment where I feel free, loved, creative, or whatever like nothing else exists. I also love partying, being up late, I’m really sociable. I love meeting new people, but I also think Late Night People is more than just a rave. I do really think in day-to-day life it’s important to create those spaces for joy and escapism outside of the mundane. And I feel like it’s an act of resilience to reject all that other stuff and just have a good time. 

Marvin: “Tomorrow’s Child” is my favorite song on the project and it samples the famous dub track King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown. What was the final prompt that led to the writing of this track and I thought it was really powerful leaning into reggae-infused instrumentation – did the subject matter help guide this instrumentation? 

Yazmin Lacey: My mom and dad had to come and live with me for a bit and I’ve always said to my dad that you need to give me your records and he’s like I’ve seen the way you handle CDs there ain’t no way. So when he came to live with me he didn’t really have a choice. I had all these records out and we were listening to a lot of stuff. My family are Caribbean, so I grew up on a lot of that music and so it’s partly me paying homage to that sound.

In terms of the lyrics it was kind of a freestyle, and also because my background before music was youth work and work with young people who needed extra support. I’ve always wanted to write about the things that I saw were problematic in the world with what future we’re leaving for young people. But I was so free with my writing, I’ve never wanted to overthink. You do have to take a little more care when you’re talking about some stuff but the song just came naturally. Loads of mine, in fact 90% of my friends have children and I always think that the world is changing so much so quickly, like I wonder what it’d be like for them.

Marvin: What differences do you feel between this cycle and the EP structure?

Yazmin Lacey: It’s longer – I had more time this time as well. When I did the last EP I had nothing – the last time I released music was about 3 years ago – so I have real time to think about the way in which I want to share it and it came together organically. I don’t like to feel like anything is contrived or rushed. In terms of making them, there wasn’t much difference. I work in the same way because I have to really know people and get on with them. I’ve never done this amount of work on it before though – like there’s a short film with it and all the single rollouts.. For me this album is about me really stepping into becoming an artist. I’ve always felt a bit weird saying that because I felt like I stumbled into music and just ran with it. Now I’m just like with my chest, I’m an artist this is what I do, this is my representation.

Marvin: You’ve mentioned your passion for youth work previously but were there any experiences in your past that helped to shape that interest?

Yazmin Lacey: I’ve always felt passionate about this, I’ve always thought this is what I’m supposed to do. I think that I was lucky enough to have spaces as a young person which probably indirectly influenced me to do music, because I was in creative environments. I used to go to theatre royal, a youth theatre in Stratford and we got to socialise with all these people outside of our school. You know that stuff is so deep when you’re like 13. That space was so important to me and it was really different from the school I went to. A lot of us are still friends now and we all still speak to Carlos and Jack (Two people who run the youth theatre). If your home life isn’t 10/10 ,or even if it is, identifying safe adults that can help you grow in confidence is super important. That’s where I got my first youth work job actually. In the other school that I went to, I felt super misunderstood there. It was very white and out in Essex and I struggled with that – I felt othered so much and it made me realise that these are such formative years and it made me want to work with other young people.

Marvin: Jamming sessions were stated as the reason you decided to pursue music in the first place. Is there any way you’ve ever considered incorporating that into a potential show idea or even being a part of a band at some point in the future?

Yazmin Lacey: You know what, if you come to my show it kinda feels a little bit like a jam. I love jamming because it really excites me that every single moment can be the start of an idea or completely nothing but you treat everything the same. I love that environment. To be honest, I didn’t go to any music college or anything like that, my first experience of learning that kind of stuff was in jams – I’ve always made music with jazz musicians since I started, that taught me a lot about those spaces and exploration and I just love it. I’m not the kind of person that can jump up anywhere and just jam with everyone, that makes me sweat – but in a closed room, I just love that energy, that’s how most of the songs were made. I think you have to be quite confident and open in a show setting to jam on stage but it’s not something I’m closed off to.

Marvin: What would you say is your favourite song on the project and why?

Yazmin Lacey: It’s so hard you know, because there are so many beautiful moments or jokes around the studio we have about different songs – and I change my mind every day. I love “Where did you go” I just love the way it makes me feel -singing it live. Actually no, I’m gonna change my mind (laughs) I’m gonna say “Legacy” just because it’s just super special. When I first started singing I was super shy and I wouldn’t let my family come to any of my shows, so my nan before she passed never saw me sing – actually, only maybe like a clip of me that my aunties would show. I think of the journey of my nan, coming from Antigua to the UK and all the things she did with raising us lot, and then what I’m doing now and it feels like exactly what it is – a legacy, not mine but hers and everyone that’s come before me. Also with that one, that’s the only song on the whole album that I wrote in the room in the one go. The whole song was probably done in about an hour and a half and that’s just unheard of for how I work.

Marvin: Also as a follow-up – you were previously asked about your favourite albums ever so I’m here to ask about your top 5 favourite songs.

Yazmin Lacey: Ever!? I really panic at these questions because I’ll be kicking myself like why didn’t I say this when I know that’s one of my favorite songs, your mind just goes blank. I’m gonna go with the ones that are on permanent rotation at the moment.

Number 1 “Spanish Joint” – D’Angelo – this is my safe song, it’s always the last song I like to hear before I go on stage. It’s like my safe space, my home song. And I listen to it before the show because it makes me feel how I want to make other people feel.

“The world it softly lulls” – by Hiatus Kaiyote because I just love the way that song bubbles and comes up, that’s another one of my safe songs, when I first found their music it blew my mind. You know what I’m gonna say, I’m gonna say a Whitney song you know because when I was little, obviously I didn’t do music or anything but I have memories of performing Whitney for my family because that’s like one of the best vocalists of our time. I’m gonna go with

You know what I’m gonna say, “It’s not right but it’s okay” I’m sorry but the way Whitney chewed that song up, like when I saw the video as well with the black leather choker, the black corset like this is exceptional. When I was little, obviously I didn’t do music or anything but I have memories of performing Whitney for my family because that’s like one of the best vocalists of our time.

I always love “A Rose is Still a Rose”, by Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill. I didn’t really have role models or idols but that song I really felt that one when I heard it.

The final song – I’m gonna do is “Is This Love” by Bob Marley, lyrically for me, he’s one of my favourite writers, it’s universal the things he’s talking about, its unpretentious his writing, it’s got one of my favourite lyrics ever, it’s so romantic when he says “we’ll share the shelter of my single bed”. Just the picture that paints for me, we might not have much but we can share what we do have.

Marvin: What are you most looking forward to in 2023 – Music and non-music?

Yazmin Lacey: Non-music I hope that I can transfer the things that I’ve learned, communication, being brave, taking risks, just having a laugh, and not taking yourself too seriously; into all aspects of my life. I hope that musically I just enjoy it. Doing music is a bit of a crazy trip, it’s quite a rollercoaster, I’m just here to have a good time and hopefully deliver some really good shows.

Listen to Yazmin Lacey’s full project ‘Voice Notes’ below: