Charlotte OC

Charlotte O'Connor is the daughter of a half-Malawian, half-Indian mother and Irish father.[2] She grew up in Blackburn, Lancashire, and attended Westholme School. She began playing the guitar at 15 years of age and attended weekend classes at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.[3] When she was 16 years old, she became a global ambassador for surfwear brand Quiksilver.[4][5]

O'Connor's music attracted the attention of agent Sam Bush, who signed her to a contract and arranged gigs for her in the United States. She signed a four-album recording deal with Columbia Records in late 2008, when she was 18 years old.[3] Her debut single, "Treasure Island", was released in September 2011 and her debut album, For Kenny (produced by Mario Caldato Jr.), followed in November.[6] O'Connor was dropped by Columbia and subsequently took work in her mother's hairdressing salon.[7]

O'Connor signed with Stranger Records in 2013.[8] She released her first EP, Colour My Heart, in November 2013 under the stage name Charlotte OC; the same month, the BBC classed her as "tipped for success in 2014"[7] and Digital Spy named her "one to watch".[9] Her second EP, Strange, was released by Polydor Records in September 2014,[10] and its track "Hangover" was playlisted on BBC Radio 1.[11] Colour My Heart and Strange were recorded with producer Tim Anderson in Los Angeles.[12] In March 2015, O'Connor released her third EP, Burning, which features the single "If My House Was Burning".[13]

Her second album, the Anderson-produced Careless People, was released on 31 March 2017.[14] It spawned four singles, "Darkest Hour", "Blackout", "Shell", and "Medicine Man".[15]

O'Connor described her music as being influenced by gospel, soul, and house musics, as well as by the electronic music she heard at the German nightclub Berghain.[16][17][18] As her parents surrounded her with folk and soul music, she lists Alicia Keys, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday and Marvin Gaye among her major influences.[7] Noisey wrote that O'Connor "blends Bat for Lashes' cosmic mystic pop, Stevie Nicks' breathless vulnerability, and possesses the vocal chops to keep up with Adele",[19] while Hunger magazine wrote that her output "feels spiritual and almost occultist".[20]