Creative Trust
Before penning hits for artists Charli XCX, Zedd, Kehlani, Noah Cyrus, and others, British singer-songwriter Cleo Tighe knew it was all about trusting the process. “The main thing is to be in that trusting kind of energy that it's going to happen,” she says. “That's what I'm trying to do.” Projects include Col3trane, Tove Styrke, Zara Larsson, Justin Tranter, and writing credits for “One Too Many” (Keith Urban/Pink), “Wherever” (Kygo/Ava Max), “Lovers In A Past Life” (Calvin Harris/Rag‘n’Bone Man), and more.
Tighe knew she wanted to be a singer when she first watched Snow White and, although she sang in the school choir, no one around her was passionate about music. Singing constantly, performing anywhere and everywhere from the age of 10, her dad offered to find her a vocal coach, and the teacher she connected with worked with EDM band Delphic. The band loved Tighe’s voice and hired her to record backing vocals. When Delphic broke up, she began writing with Rick Boardman (and his girlfriend). Shares Tighe, “I knew three chords on the piano and had all these song ideas. I don't know if they were any good, but he thought they were.”
Writing every day, Tighe recorded her work on voice memos, listening to them on her walk to and from school the next day. “I look back and think it's crazy,” she admits. “I was just a teenager writing songs with deep lyrics. I don’t know where that came from?” Initially not wanting to go to university, she is grateful for deciding to go as she met her best friends and frequent collaborators, Danny Casio (@dannythesix) and Pablo Bowlan (@r.i.pablo), there. Says Tighe, “Going to music school, you won't learn about writing songs, but you will meet people, and people come to scout you—that’s happened for a lot of my friends.”
“The Six” were Tighe’s ‘writing bubble’ for seven years, creating a growing buzz around Manchester. “I was never scared. I found it super easy to collaborate, maybe because we were all figuring [it] out together?” shares Tighe. Her breakout moment came after Boardman shared “Real Love” with producer Clean Bandit and singer-songwriter Jess Glynne over breakfast. Glynne loved the track, and the song hit No. 2 on BBC Radio 1 while Tighe was still in university.
“Real Love” led to a publishing deal with Kobalt Music, opening doors for more co-writing. When her Kobalt deal was running out, she received label interest, ultimately signing through Paul Smith to Warner Chappell UK. “He cared and liked my music the most,” says Tighe. ”I want people to be good at business, but if they're not a fan, they'll never know what to do with my songs.” Tighe is also signed to Evan Bogart’s Camelot Music Group in the U.S. Meeting in a writing session years ago, Tighe says, “He’s so talented, absolutely hilarious, and became a good friend. I surround myself with people that make me laugh.”
Tighe says success is about “going out and finding people that you connect with creatively and putting yourself in situations where you can receive what you're asking for.” Prioritizing her creative flow by writing three pages of nonstop ‘stream of consciousness’ every day, cultivating positivity by doing things that make her happy (workouts, sunset-gazing, photography, etc.), and taking quality alone time, Tighe also emphasizes the magic of Los Angeles. “There is something about L.A. […] it's got so much creative energy. We’re all just there to create.”
Following the success award-winning “One Too Many,” co-written with James Norton (@boymatthews), Tighe and Norton reunited for Megan Thee Stallion’s latest single “Strategy” (with TWICE). Coming releases include work with Kid Cudi, Rag ‘n Bone Man, Nessa Barrett, and Damiano from Maneskin.
Contact Warner Music Publishing, [email protected]
Experience Cleo Tighe at instagram.com/cleotighe_
Songlisting: open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1EFQM5K7MZfCaT
