IN CONVERSATION WITH ROSE GRAY

interview by PHOEBE GIBSON-DOUGALL

Singer, songwriter, and DJ Rose Gray turned the club into a confessional on her dazzling debut album Louder, Please, a euphoric love letter to nightlife, freedom, and emotional rebirth. Blending the glitter and grit of 90s and 2000s dance-pop with heartfelt storytelling, Rose channels icons like Robyn, Kylie Minogue, and Madonna into a sound that’s both timeless and urgently modern. This October, she released a deluxe edition of the album, titled A Little Louder, Please.

jacket HOLLY LAIDLER
trousers DILARA FINDIKOGLU
key belt XI SCORPII
shoes JUDE

This has been a huge year for you; you released your debut album Louder, Please, you played at Glastonbury, you’ve been on tour with Kesha…how does it feel receiving such a positive reaction from audiences and the industry?

It’s been such a year. I released Louder, Please two weeks into 2025 and the record feels like the start of something for me. Seeing the way it has connected with people has been unreal. I poured so much of myself into making it, so watching it take on a life of its own has been really special. Since the release I’ve played shows all over the world and met so many amazing people along the way. It feels like everything I’ve been working towards for years has finally aligned. I’m travelling constantly, having so much fun, and for the first time the world and everything I dreamt about feels completely within reach. The album has changed my life in such a real way, but I always knew this change was possible because the music deserved it.  It’s also funny because the tables have really turned; this time last year I could barely book a show. I was mostly DJing.

Like a lot of women, you had a pretty unsavoury introduction to the music industry, including losing more than a hundred of your songs to a record label before the age of 19. How did you bounce back and find your feet after such a harsh beginning?

Well, I think a little sprinkle of delusion helped! By delusion, I mean I never fully accepted that it wasn’t going to happen for me, even when so many doors were slammed in my face. I’ve taken some serious knocks along the way, but eight years in my skin has definitely thickened. I’m still sensitive, but I know my worth now and I’ve really learned my craft. I make so much music that losing those early songs doesn’t sting anymore because I’ve written hundreds of better ones since. I do think a lot about young women coming up in the industry. I want to protect new artists because I was exposed to too much too soon, and no one deserves to have their creativity taken advantage of like that.

jacket HOLLY LAIDLER
trousers DILARA FINDIKOGLU
key belt XI SCORPII
shoes JUDE

Louder, Please could be described as a coming-of-age album, and it explores the chaotic mess of joy and confusion that is one’s twenties; did you feel a sense of catharsis when making this album?

I always say it's the next stage after coming-of-age, the 20’s experience. The after-coming-of-age phase…whatever that is. You're right, there was a lot of chaos and confusion in this time, there still is! But making the album was healing for me because when you write music you relive that experience over-and-over. For example, “Hackney Wick”; I will forever have that moment in my life captured in song. Every time I hear it, I'm transformed back to those nights. I miss those nights so much.

As much as this is a club record, this is also a very introspective record. On “Switch” you talk about the pressures and pitfalls of being in a long-distance relationship, and “Everything Changes (But I Won’t)” is about the inevitable anxieties of loving somebody long-term; how do you manage sharing this vulnerability with listeners?

That's the thing with my music that I always try to push for—I want to make it introspective. I love electronic and dance music and to write smart, interesting lyrics over it is a sweet spot for me. I write from experience, so most of the time it just comes out naturally. I’ve always been an open book, and I love that about my music—it feels like letting people into my head. Songs like “Everything Changes (But I Won’t)” are really personal; they’re the messy, complicated parts of love and life. I’m better at writing songs than explaining in conversation about how I feel. I love that my songs take on their own life when they're released, sometimes people get meanings from my songs that I didn't intend for them to have or feel. That's cool.

dress and petticoat FENDI
shoes MANOLO BLAHNIK
necklace GRETE HENRIETTE

You’ve said that in recording sessions you can be quite headstrong, and that you know what you do and don’t like, how did you hone this confidence and taste?

Time: I’ve spent years in studios writing not only for myself but others. That's helped me refine and work out my process and how I like to make music. I have an amazing group of people I love to collaborate with, and at the moment that's where it is for me…it’s in the collaboration. New sessions can feel like dating, but when you spark a creative chemistry magic can happen.

You’ve just released A Little Louder, Please, the deluxe version of your debut album, and it’s packed with features from other artists. Was collaboration a key part of the drive to release the deluxe version of Louder, Please?

I felt like the Louder, Please era had more to give; I didn’t want to depart from that world. The album deserved more and so I made more. I wanted extended club edits, to feature my favourite artists, and to reimagine the songs to make them darker, clubbier, and sexier. So in a way this was also the perfect excuse to work with my favourite artists.

dress and petticoat FENDI
shoes MANOLO BLAHNIK
necklace GRETE HENRIETTE

Speaking of collaboration, you’ve got ties to the film and tv industry through your longtime partner and your friends, would you ever consider creating original music for a film or tv series?

I would love to; it's on my bucket list. Directors hit me up.

You’ve just been on tour, what’s the process like when choosing your onstage outfits—is it different from choosing your clubbing outfits?

Archives. I'm lucky to have some friends who have archives, full of one-off pieces. I also have customised looks for shows which I swap in and out, but ultimately, it has to be moveable. I switch between shirts overlaid with bras, hot pants with detachable material, and tights—lots of different coloured tights. I love a little dramatic unveiling on stage. I feel like when I’m partying, I’m always thinking about how I can take off layers, and usually I will end up in a bra and bottoms. I’m the same for my live shows.

Looking ahead, what do the coming months hold for you?

I'm off on another tour, this time in Brazil and Mexico. This has been a big dream of mine: “Come to Brazil” really happened! After that I’ll be spending the rest of the year writing, I’m excited to get into the bubble of making another album.

skirt ALEXANDER MCQUEEN archive
top SHAINA BELCOURT
shoes VIVIENNE WESTWOOD

full look HOLLY LAIDLER

skirt ALEXANDER MCQUEEN archive
top SHAINA BELCOURT
shoes VIVIENNE WESTWOOD

TEAM CREDITS:

talent ROSE GRAY
photography ANDREA LAMEDICA
styling SONIA ALIPIO
makeup ELAINE LYNSKEY at Premier
hair DAVIDE PERFETTI
set design KYLA WELDON
production ELIZABETH BERNET
photography assistant CLARA JANE
styling assistant RUI SANTOS and TOMMY DOWLING
styling and production assistant ROXY BARROW
makeup assistant NATALIA CONDE-FLORES
editor TIMOTEJ LETONJA
interview PHOEBE GIBSON-DOUGALL