Like many successful Gen Z musicians, Isimeme “Naomi” Udu – AKA Hemlocke Springs – became TikTok-famous virtually overnight, when her track Girlfriend – crowned the ultimate “awkward Black girl anthem” by one commentator – went viral in November last year. The gleeful, quirky hit has everything you could want from a pop song: an earworm hook, zany production flourishes and a bold rhythm. Udu’s vocals shape-shift wildly, switching from soft and wispy to theatrical and operatic.
Such range can also be found on her freshly released debut EP, Going… Going… GONE!, a seven-track showcase of her crate-digger love of musical styles, not least her affinity for synth-driven 80s styles (seen on songs like The Train to Nowhere and Gimme All UR Luv) and starry-eyed K-pop (such as on Enknee1).
