Karen Harding has released an 8-track EP ‘Sweet Vibrations’ on Ultra Music. The mini-album brings together some of her biggest recent tracks and a selection of high quality, unreleased material in one collection, showcasing her gifted versatility as a singer / songwriter. ‘Sweet Vibrations’ captures Karen’s unique style of unforgettable melodies with meaningful lyrics that walks the line between the dancefloor and the airwaves. This credible mix of dance and pop recently saw Karen hit half a billion streams and over 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify. We caught up with Karen to talk about the project.

What inspired the title?

I wanted to find something that gave me energy and summed up the kind of music I make. It was one of the tracks off of the EP and I felt it was perfect.

Where did you record this album?

I recorded it in different places. ‘Love Crazy’ and ‘Let’s get together’ were recorded in my home studio, ‘Deeper’ and ‘Undo My Heart’ were recorded in Tim Powell’s studio down in Brighton (UK), ‘Sweet Vibrations’ in Sleepwalkers’ studio in Ealing, London; ‘Morning’ was recorded on a writing camp in Tileyard, London, and ‘You & I’ was recorded in Copenhagen again, on another writing camp and ‘Rely’ In Swindon, England. A complete mix of places but I think I like it that way!

What is your favorite track? Why?

I mean, it’s really hard to choose one when I love them all equally, they’re like little babies of mine that I’m so proud of! IF I had to pick one, I would say ‘Undo My Heart’ purely because it was the record that really got the EP going and I just knew it was going to lead to a body of work. It’s one of my favourites and I knew it was special when we were writing it too. I did it with Tim Powell, Franklin and Digital Farm Animals and we were all just totally in love with it. It was great to have the team fully behind it together.

What is your favorite line from the album?

I would have to say it’s the first line from ‘Morning’: “Midnight stories keep me up, I don’t wanna close the book, in the dark we find ourselves again…’ I wrote this one with Cameron Warren and Nick Sheldon. The melody came first and we jammed around some chords then the lyrics came quite quickly after that. We wanted to write something poetic, that captured the feeling in the record but also something simple in the chorus.

Who helped make this album what it is? 

There was a big team behind this EP and I don’t wanna miss anybody out but firstly want to shout out to my management, Upside UK, for working so hard on this body of work with me and my record label Ultra whom without the record would all still be on a hard drive. 

As I mentioned before, I did ‘Undo My Heart’ with Tim Powell (who I love working with and we’ve done a few tunes already), Digital Farm Animals and Franklin who smashed out the production. 

‘You & I’ was written with the amazing team of Cutfather and Neil Ormandy, again this was one of those songs that pretty much wrote itself.

For ‘Rely’, I was actually invited to be part of this record from the Future Kings and L’Tric after they came up with the original idea of sampling ‘Islands in the Stream’.

‘Deeper’ is another one I did with Tim Powell but also worked on it with Eli Brown who again, smashed out the production. I love his work so was happy to work with him again. 

‘Morning’ was with Nick Sheldon and Cameron Warren. 

‘Love Crazy’ was a special one for me. I wrote this one with my boyfriend (now husband) in our house and it’s produced by Bearcubs who I’m a huge fan of. From the moment we did this record I knew it had to be shared with the world. 

‘Sweet Vibrations’ was with Sleepwalkers and the incredible Belle Humble who also worked on ‘Let’s Get Together’ with me and Illyus & Barrientos. 

I’m honoured to be able to have worked with such talented people and also wanna give a massive shout out to everyone else who has worked on my project including the music videos, the mixing and mastering of the tracks, and everyone else!

If you could remix any song and feature any artist, what song would it be and who would you feature on it?

I think because I love so many classic old school records, I’d be afraid to touch them and change them because I love them the way they are so much, but I guess if a song cried out for me to remix it then I would! I’ve always thought myself and The Weeknd would sound amazing together haha! But honestly, I’m a big fan of Calvin Harris and Disclosure, I think some magic could definitely happen there.

What's your dream?

To have a headline tour, I think that would be super fun! Also, to buy a huge house with a private karaoke room and a pool!

What is some advice you would give to someone with a dream?

 Would always say to follow your gut. I made some decisions in the past where I knew they weren’t right, and I still went with them and had to compromise which was something I didn’t really want to do. I think if you follow that instinct, it will always work out. I remember saying to my Mam that I wanted to put studying on the back burner for a while and she was a bit hesitant, but I just knew something was going to come of it and it did! I got my big break after putting numerous videos up online and MNEK contacted me - we wrote my first single and the rest is history. To sum it up, I would say if you feel like it’s meant to happen for you, no matter what it is, always follow it up - you can do it!

Connect with Karen

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/karenharding

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/KarenHarding

Facebook.com: http://www.facebook.com/KarenHarding

Website: http://www.karenhardingofficial.com

Listen to the album:

https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/62IsJzKQrSVzO2k2DIIcOw?utm_source=generator

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