Harry T Pope is a 23-year-old independent artist from the village of Croxley Green, just outside of Watford. With eclectic influences such as Billy Joel, The Beatles, Queen, My Chemical Romance, Jacob Collier, and George Michael, his music fuses catchy pop melodies with jazz harmony, rock energy, classical instrumentation, and soulful vocals. This approach is evident in the trio of singles he has released independently since his debut, ‘Stay Away’, in January.
His most recent release, ’22 Now’, showcases the pop-iest corner of his writing, being the shortest, fastest, and funkiest track, with more ambiguous lyrics conveying the simple theme of wondering what to do with life in your 20s. Contrastingly, his February release, ’11:11’, leans into his jazz inclination, as an almost-7-minute ballad, complete with a piano trio, flugelhorn solo, and orchestral string section provided by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Written for his wife, the song’s direct, candid story-telling lyrics depict Harry’s own habit of wishing his partner a better day upon seeing the clock strike 11:11. Due to his diverse stylistic approaches to each song, both musically and lyrically, there is no single formula that can be derived from Harry’s output – one never quite knows what they are going to get.
Despite having written songs from the young age of 8, Harry never expected to be a singer, let alone a solo artist. Instead, he spent most of his life picking up various instruments, leading to his multi-instrumental approach when arranging and recording. After falling in love with singing at 16, Harry used rock bands as an outlet for his songwriting. Though it was not until the end of his time studying music at King’s College London that Harry realised his ambition to release music under his own name and met his best friend and collaborator, Alex Baker, who has played drums, trumpet/flugelhorn, and co-produced all his tracks so far.
Harry will be performing many more shows in and around London across the year, both solo and with his backing band, as he continues to work towards the release of his debut EP and numerous other singles, the next being the indie-flavoured ‘What We’ve Become’, that he hopes to release in late-May.
