It’s a warm spring day in the UK – one of the first real tastes of summer – but it’s not as warm as in Nashville, where rising star Sydney Rose joins us from to talk about and her new EP, I Know What I Want.
“It’s fantastic,” Sydney says of living in the country music capital of the world. “Before I was living here, I was in Georgia with my parents… I lived there for a year and then I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t have people around me who like were doing music, and understood what I was doing.” The shift to a city where songwriting is practically woven into the air around her has been a game-changer. “It’s been really great for my songwriting and just like my life in general.”
That creative growth is apparent in her new EP I Know What I Want, a collection of songs that feel like her most personal work yet. “I think I’m saying everything that I want to say truthfully,” Sydney says. “Each song that I write it just gets, for me, more and more honest… I’m just like getting older and getting better at my craft.” As for how the themes took shape, the process was anything but premeditated. “I don’t plan things ahead,” she admits. “Once time has passed on and I’ve overlooked everything that I’ve written, there’s a clear theme. And I’m immediately like, oh, this is obvious, this is what the project’s gonna be about.”
I Know What I Want emerged from Sydney’s reflections of growing older, leaving home, and chasing dreams. “It was just all about like getting older, wanting to go back to being a kid again… how hard it is to move away from your parents and everything that you know.” That sense of nostalgic yearning is central to Sydney’s breakout track ‘Hug Me Now’, a song that’s resonated far and wide, amassing 50 million streams and counting. “It kind of came from it was like the themes of I Know What I Want, wanting to go back to me being in Georgia… I was looking through the Instagram of all the friends that I had previously, and I was like, their lives are so much better than mine. And like, I’m just stuck here.” It’s a feeling many listeners have clearly shared. “I didn’t expect it to resonate with so many people, but makes sense now that I see it happening. Of course, those lyrics are relatable. I feel like everyone has gone through that. Even if it’s like very silently.”
Despite its rawness – or maybe because of it – the track remains a favourite for Sydney. The music video, she says, brought her vision to life in a way that felt completely authentic. “The Pinterest board I created beforehand looks exactly like the music video,” she laughs. “I just wanted to encapsulate the feeling that I felt when I was writing a song… just feeling like a left behind background character.” It was a collaborative effort with her friend Sophia. “We both wrote down scenes, we made the Pinterest board, and they made it exactly like I wanted it to be. Very emo, you know.” Her artistic vision evidently extends beyond just the music: “Before all this, I wanted to be an animator… I’ve always drawn and so having something else, other than the music, it just feels kind of like a fresh air.” Visuals – artwork, videos, and more – are all part of the storytelling. “I feel like even when I’m writing a song, I can see the music video.”
The EP also marks her first release on Mercury Records, after time spent navigating the music industry more independently after she found herself unexpectedly released by her label towards the end of 2024. That season of independence shaped her mindset towards making music: “My second EP and my first album was very much like a trial run. I wrote a lot of great music that I love and without doing that, I couldn’t have done all this other music.” After a return to her DIY roots with her Voice Memos EP, Sydney sees the twists and turns as necessary. “It just felt like a blessing in disguise I got to do that project in the way that I wanted to. And I did it all by myself.” Now, working with Mercury has helped her bring her new vision to life: “The new EP wouldn’t have been the way it was or out so quickly without them. All of that has taught me so much and I wouldn’t be writing really great music right now without all of that, you know.” This is a perspective that has taken time her time to reach: “I’m not going to sit here and lie and be like, ‘Oh, everything’s meant to be.’ I’ve crashed out many times about all of this. But I do believe everything happens for a reason.”
On the live front, Sydney is stepping into a new chapter: headlining her own shows. “It’s very scary, but also I feel like such a fan of a lot of other artists that I look up to, so I know exactly what it feels like to be a fan in the crowd.” After learning from artists that she supported on tour, including Addison Grace, Sydney’s ready to take her place on stage. “Doing live shows is like my favourite thing ever. I just really hope that I can connect with them and make them feel comfortable and have a good time.” And then, of course, there’s the not-so-little matter of playing BST Hyde Park in London. “I was going to sleep last night and I was like, I’m playing BST… this is the craziest thing. I really haven’t processed it yet.” With acts like Gracie Abrams and Noah Kahan also on the bill, it’s a full-circle moment for Sydney. “All I wanted to do this year was maybe do one of my own headline shows. And so doing this and sharing a stage with artists that I look up to so much, it’s going to be crazy.”
When asked who else she’d love to perform with someday, she doesn’t hold back. “Phoebe Bridgers has been like my favourite artist ever… I mean, Taylor Swift is on my wall,” – she points behind her – “but I know that’s way out there. I love The 1975 and I love Twenty One Pilots. I will never open up for Twenty One Pilots, but you know, that’s another dream we could talk about later.” For now, Sydney is focused on the road directly ahead: “I’m playing a hometown show in Nashville later this year, in the same venue where I played my first show here, supporting Chloe Moriondo. The only thing I wanted to do is tour and now I’m doing it – so that’s what I’m looking forward to the most. But I’ve also just been making more music. I’m letting it all unfold and seeing what the path looks like for me next.”
‘I Know What I Want’ by Sydney Rose is out now.
