Spindle Radar: Lizzie Berchie Sets The Stage For Her New EP With Latest Single ‘Love Deep’

After a nearly two-year absence, Lizzie Berchie has made her grand return with not one but two incredible tracks. In 2022, the British-Ghanaian artist splashed into the music sphere with her debut track ‘Pass Time.’ With her soothing vocals and immersive songwriting prowess, she effortlessly carved a lane for herself in the neo-soul/R&B genre. Lizzie continued to gain the attention of music listeners when she dropped her first EP, Under The Sun, which featured the aforementioned single and her other hit track, ‘Growth.’

The young talent continued to hone her craft and position herself as an artist to watch in 2023, releasing a deluxe version of Under The Sun, a new EP titled Am I An Adult Yet? and a string of enchanting singles. Following a busy year filled with performances and releases, Lizzie took a break in 2024. While she didn’t release any new tracks, the ‘Lost A Little’ singer was still busy creating music, specifically her upcoming new project.

Finally, in February, Lizzie made her highly anticipated return with ‘I Hope You Understand,’ a track that “narrates the journey of someone conditioned to habitually prioritize the feelings of others, finally discovering the strength to abandon that thinking and start advocating for themselves and their needs.” With her new music era in full swing, we sat down with the ‘I Hope’ songstress to get all the details about her upcoming EP, her latest single ‘Love Deep’ ft Filah Lah Lah, performing at SXSW, and so much more. Read our full interview below.

Hiya Lizzie! Thanks for sitting down with SPINDLE. How’s March treating you so far? 

March has been amazing: I felt like my international women’s month powers were fully charged. My highlight has to be performing in the US for the first time at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Before the release of your latest singles –which we’ll get into shortly –you seemingly took a break from music throughout 2024. What were you up to during that time?

I did take a break in 2024, but I definitely did not stop working. I’ve just been taking my time creating my new project. Giving myself space and grace to create while juggling a job because them bills need to be paid! Ironically, this ended up informing the lore of this next EP, which is all about my life as an artist and putting in that graveyard shift. It really was a case of having a 9-5 and then a 5-9 with all the after-work studio sessions and weekend shoots. Nonetheless, some amazing things came from my desk job, such as finding my boo thang so… a win is a win!

In February, you kicked off your new music era with your single, ‘I Hope You Understand.’ From its silky-smooth production to its lyrics about putting yourself first, it’s such a dynamic track. Can you take us through the creative process for this record? 

The creative process for my latest single started with me at home on the piano, singing and writing. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but after listening back to the voice note, I decided to hit up Danny [Hilton], then we went to the studio and began creating a world for the idea. Glen and Jed absolutely blessed the track with their amazing piano and violin skills, which really helped bring the song to life.

You then followed up ‘I Hope You Understand’ with the upbeat, ‘Love Deep.’ This record has such a great early 2000s R&B vibe to it. When you were crafting this record, what were some of your inspirations? What goals did you have for ‘Love Deep’?

I had a few inspirations for ‘Love Deep,’ but the main thing was to write something that felt nostalgic but still modern and fun. I’m typically someone who writes slow songs so it was nice to create something that was a little more up-tempo.

You also collaborated with South African R&B artist Filah Lah Lah for the record. How did you two link up? Did you always envision Filah as part of the track?

I’ve been a big fan of Filah Lah Lah from the moment I listened to her first album ‘On Air’. Her voice and her creativity are just incredible, and I knew right away she was someone I wanted to collab with one day. I had always envisioned her on the EP, so one day, I just sent her a message asking if she’d be down to collab on a song, and she said yes! When she sent in her verse for ‘Love Deep’, I was gobsmacked, she really came through and killed it.

When deciding which single to start your music return, why did you gravitate toward releasing ‘I Hope You Understand’ before ‘Love Deep’? Listening to the songs back-to-back feels like a journey from heartbreak to new love. 

‘I Hope You Understand’ is what I refer to as my EP prologue – it sets the scene and gives a backstory to the journey that you’ll travel through in this EP. It’s an ode to all the artists hustling day jobs and living like musical super heroes at night. ‘I Hope You Understand’ is about letting go and taking a leap of faith into the unknown where you can find love, freedom, creativity and joy, which is where we end up with ‘Love Deep’. Following up with this song is taking us from that place of yearning and sadness to a place of slightly more – but not complete – joy. There’s still an innocent sense of yearning in this song.

I want to say congratulations on securing a performance spot at the Everything RNB Showcase at SXSW this year. How does it feel to be part of such an iconic music festival? Will you be performing at any other festivals this year? Which one are you looking forward to the most?

SXSW was incredible, and it was such an honour to be out there with the Everything RNB team. I thoroughly enjoyed the food (shout out to Coopers BBQ!), the people, the music, the weather; I honestly have no bad things to say about Austin because a time was truly had! I have a few festivals lined up this year so definitely keep an eye out for the announcements!

When you look back at your career, does it still feel surreal that you’re out here performing at some of the biggest festivals and releasing music to the masses? How would younger Lizzie feel?

It’s definitely a crazy feeling knowing that people are listening to my music and that I’ve managed to reach people across the world. I don’t think my younger self would have ever imagined I’d actually be doing this for a living and having any kind of success. I was so shy as a child and it took a while for me to really come out of my shell with those outside of my safety bubble of friends and family. But I’m so glad that I can tell my younger self that we’re confident now; we’re singing in front of thousands of people and not having a nervous breakdown about it. The best things about doing what I do is getting to be a role model to my nieces (and hopefully one day to my kids) – letting them know that there’s nothing you cannot do!

How have you evolved as an artist? Have your music tastes? 

My music is evolving as I explore all the flavours of sound that I love. I’m discovering new ranges and capabilities through this. Like I mentioned before, I’m really a slow jams and neo-soul girlie, but I feel like I explored a lot more mid-tempo and upbeat songs this time around. I’m also learning not to be afraid to try new things and working/writing with more people. Working with Danny Hilton is such a safe space because I think we are able to experiment outside the box with the music whilst still staying true to my core sound. For example, if I wanted to explore a more electronic or pop sound, he knows I’m still going to want to value real instruments being played etc.

Looking ahead, what are five goals you want to achieve in the next five years? 

My goals for the next five years would be (and I’m dreaming big here lol):

1. Releasing a debut album.

2. Music to pay ALL my bills (amen, hallelujah).

3. Winning MOBO and BRIT awards

4. Doing a show at the Royal Albert Hall

5. Headlining my own tour

Make sure to listen to Lizzie Berchie’s latest track, ‘Love Deep’ here and watch its accompanying music video below.

If you can’t get enough of Lizzie Berchie, make sure to check out her headline show at London’s St Pancras Old Church on June 6th. For more information about ticket prices, click here.