Stella Talpo: The Nomadic Soul Searcher Finding Herself In The London Alternative Scene

I don’t believe in fate or destiny. I am a cynical realist who believes that you make your own luck in life. But the more I think about Stella Talpo and her journey up until now, the more my resolute stubbornness weans. From Italy, to Singapore, America to England, it feels like Stella was meant to be here, in London, making some of the most vital, expressive and uplifting R&B-tinged Soul music that you are likely to come across. It’s quite the odyssey.

Born in Italy and raised primarily in Singapore, as well as spells in Indonesia, Spain and America, Stella experienced a gamut of different cultures and lifestyles that have shaped her outlook and artistry. ‘It’s given me an ability to empathise with people more’, Stella offers. ‘You're raised to be open minded’. Finally ending up in London to finish her education, Stella grew into her new existence: ‘I made it a test for myself to stay here even when it got uncomfortable. I think when you're a Third Culture kid - which is a polite way of saying immigrant if you want to get political about it - it becomes easy to escape discomfort by leaving a country. If you don't fit in, or if something isn't going quite right, it's ingrained in us to just move and start over. But when you start over, it's only a matter of time before the things that you haven't faced just bubble up again. So I decided that I was going to stay here and I'm really glad I did, because now this is the closest thing to what I would call home’.

It’s not always easy though. The familiar tale of the outsider looking in trickles into her conscious state here and there, but Stella’s superior mentality soon wipes away any spillage. ‘Sometimes it feels like I'm not allowed in the club, like I’m two steps behind everyone. In a way I feel a bit alienated and ostracised but not literally, there's nobody victimising me. We can dig into things like the difficulty of being a woman in the industry. There's definitely influences that are probably more systemic and are actually victimising me, but I don't feel that way. I think if you play victim you take away power from yourself and you give all the responsibility to somebody else. I played victim for a long time and now I'm just trying to take ownership of my narrative’. As that outsider, Stella has the ability to see beautiful intricacies of the London music scene - ‘The thing I love most about London is that you have these little areas that breed sounds. Obviously sometimes these genres are bred out of pain, which is terrifying and sad, but there's movements of music that are born out of the present human experience, which is so incredible to me because I come from a place that’s a very new country, that is still finding its own sound and culture’.

So how did a well travelled Italian end up making buttery UK-influenced Soul music? As naturally and unintentionally as you can imagine. When asked to describe her sound, Stella opts for the elusive and mysterious rather than the brazen and generic: ‘Evolving and fluid. I want it to be powerful and empowering. I’m interested in the human psyche and philosophy, and there is a melancholy edge to it. More so with my old stuff. I used to sit in it and think that’s where I belonged as a frequency. Now I’m peeling back layers of trauma and starting to find my voice. I don’t want to be singing sad songs on stage all the time, that’s not the feeling I want to ignite in people’. The table at which Stella is meandering for a seat is already bustlingly busy, and finding a chair takes mental strength and impeccable artistry. It’s a constant battle. ‘Audiences need to know what they belong to and who you are. It’s tough in London because I’m not a Londoner. I do feel like I’ve finally acclimatised to society and that I get the London frequency but I still don’t feel like I belong to a pocket, and I don’t know if that’s more society or musically. I do sometimes wonder if I need to become more clear about what that means for me. I think the ‘brand’ part has always been tough for me’.

Last month, Stella released the finest work in her budding discography; rich, romantic and at times devastating, her new EP FINE follows a voyage of personal and artistic development. On the body of work, Stella commented that ‘It was a period of time where I was really concerned with the quality of the next record, and it was a period of time where I didn’t want it to be melancholy and slow. I wanted it to be driven. Rhythm and percussion were so important to me. It represents the past and present. It represents growth’. The production is glossy but not overtly, the lyricism is deft and subtle yet vivid, and Stella’s voice is soft yet brooding, piercing through the soundscapes, gently overawing. This is a project that means so much: ‘I’ve been releasing music since 2016. I feel like every record I make is better than the last. This is probably one of the first records that I've released that I've been like, you know what? It doesn't actually matter what other people think because this is the proudest I've ever been. It was almost like I was waiting for the validation of the public to make me feel a little less insecure about the things that I wasn't 100% about. Whereas with this EP I was just happy’.

So what is next for Stella Talpo? A hidden gem in amongst a glittering mine, persistence and belief feel like the key factors for Stella to get her time in the jewellers. ‘I recently quit my full time job. If I look back and it doesn't work out with music, I can now say whole heartedly that I’ve given it my all. I'm gonna give it everything’. A wonderful artist with an encompassing story, the next chapter of this weaving narrative is finely balanced, and Stella can’t wait for it: ‘I’m excited to see how it evolves for me, I’m not somebody who has the answers yet but I’m curious to see how it unravels’.

Words by Ben Tibbits