It’s a grey day in Newcastle, but Lizzie Esau is all colour. Not just in her sound — an intoxicating blend of indie rock with pop and grunge edges — but in her outlook, visuals, and dreams. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter has spent the past few years steadily building a name for herself through magnetic singles, raw lyricism, and a handful of ethereal EPs. She’s already played Glastonbury Festival (twice), landed a track on an Amazon series, and become a proud member of the Ivors Academy Senate — all without a record label, management army, or London postcode.
Lizzie Esau
Ask her what’s next, though, and the answer is clear: more. Much more. “I’m always dreaming of something, and not on this planet,” she says with a laugh, and it’s only partly in jest.
With her new single Bugs making waves, she sat down with Rockshot Magazine to unpack the meaning behind the music, the symbolic wings on her back, and why she’s finally ready to whisper the word “album.”
Dark Thoughts, Bright Sounds
Esau’s latest single, Bugs, is perhaps her most sonically upbeat track to date. Its shimmering guitars and addictive rhythm feel tailor-made for festival fields. But beneath the gloss lies something far more turbulent.
“The first part of the song where it says all of that stuff is kind of about just feeling… sort of not great,” Lizzie explains. “Then it kind of goes into being like… ‘I kind of wanna be like this’. Is it better that I feel like this, as I feel more inspired?”
The lyrics dwell on feelings of anxiety and mental unrest: a stomach in knots, a head full of bugs. Yet instead of simply lamenting those sensations, Lizzie turns the lens inward, questioning whether such discomfort might actually fuel her creativity.
“I feel like I write more and I do more when I feel… not good!” she admits. “It’s just that thought of glamorising the life of a tortured artist… Should I need to be tortured in some way to make something worth talking about?”
It’s a deeply personal reflection, and Lizzie isn’t afraid to call herself out. “It’s very introspective. It’s all about me, thinking about me, which is what this song is about,” she says. “I could have done with, at the time, thinking about the outside world.”
Lizzie Esau
Wings, Dreams, and DIY Aesthetics
Even a cursory glance through Lizzie’s social media reveals an unusual recurring image: wings. On stage, on her EP cover, in the video for She’s A Scorpio, angelic wings feature prominently — bold, playful, and just a little surreal.
“I had got a little bit of funding for my last EP from Help Musicians,” she recalls. “I was chatting with this guy called Jeremy, and he said ‘draw a picture of yourself at Glastonbury.’ I was like ‘this is a little drawing that I have done’, and he was like ‘I love the wings you’re wearing.’ I was like ‘I’m not actually wearing wings!’”
From there, a spontaneous idea took flight — literally. Lizzie wore them to shows, took photos, and even began giving them away at the end of gigs. “Then about three or four gigs later, I realised I haven’t got any wings to wear anymore,” she says, laughing. “They were actually expensive to buy, so I stopped giving them away.”
Though it began as a happy accident, the image clearly resonated with fans — and with Lizzie herself. “When I was a little kid, everyone was like she’s a little fairy, or airhead, or whatever… I’m always dreaming of something, and not on this planet. So I’ll just own it then. That’s the way of maybe owning it a bit.”
Lizzie Esau @ Oslo
No More EPs – Something Bigger Is Coming
While the music industry continues to favour streaming-friendly singles or short EPs, Lizzie is planning something different. “In my mind, in my sort of vision, it just doesn’t feel exciting to do another EP,” she says. “Not that the music’s not. I’ve done it. I’ve done three! I’m gonna do something else! We’ve got a lot of music ready to go, which is good, so I’m just like… being ambiguous. I wish it was an easy answer, but for me, it’s not an EP. It’s singles, and it’s something bigger that’s going to be fully crafted.”
What that “something else” is becomes clearer as the conversation unfolds. “It will be an album. I’m just terrified to say it,” she admits. “It’s only myself who I would get in trouble with… But I think it’s good to start teasing it out in the world that it will be coming. Next year. I’ve gotta do it.”
Releasing a full album as an independent artist is a significant risk — financially, logistically, emotionally. But Lizzie seems ready. “It’s terrifying to say that I’m going to invest everything into a bigger body of work, but you’ve got to take the leap at some point.”
The fear, it seems, is outweighed by her ambition. “Bands that I love, and people that I admire, put out the bigger bodies of work and get recognised from it,” she says. “You’ve got to create something.”
Glastonbury and the Soundtrack Surprise
One of Lizzie’s biggest moments came in 2023, with two Glastonbury sets under her belt. “We did BBC Introducing, which was really good. It felt very, like… shiny,” she says. “And then we played in Strummerville… You play literally on a wooden shed. It was so good. It was so what I envisaged Glastonbury to be.”
Another career milestone arrived more unexpectedly — in the form of a sync opportunity with My Lady Jane, an Amazon Prime fantasy series. Lizzie recorded a cover of I’m A Man by The Yardbirds, with a spin that was unmistakably her own.
“I remember being sat at my laptop and making a demo of it… I made it in about half a day,” she says. “It was just the quickest thing. The fastest we had ever worked on a track, and the easiest… and the biggest thing that had ever come from a track that we had ever done.”
A year passed between the recording and its release. “It was a very long-winded thing. So is anything with TV, I’ve learned,” she says. “But it was just the best thing, hearing it on the show.”
Lizzie Esau
Changing the Industry from Within
Lizzie’s aspirations go beyond her own career. She’s now part of the Ivors Academy Senate — a representative body working to create fairer conditions for songwriters and composers.
“The Ivors Academy is just the best thing to be a part of. So, you can join, if you’re a songwriter or a composer. If you’re a member of PRS it’s cheaper at the minute to join. I love being part of it.” She tells us.
“They don’t have many under-25 members,” she says, “so I did it… I just sit there and learn loads!”
“Next week, I will be going to the summit which will have loads of speakers, on about what it’s like to be a songwriter, or what is changing, or even what it’s like to be a member, for anyone who wants to be a member.”
Her time in the Senate has exposed her to the realities many songwriters face: unfair streaming models, low pay, and outdated structures. “If I can be part of any positive change to mean songwriters are paid fairly… then I definitely want to be part of it,” she says. “I don’t want to sit here and complain about it.”
It’s a surprising turn for someone who once felt like an outsider — now helping to shape the future of the music industry itself.
Lizzie Esau
Eyes On The Horizon
For all her talk of fear, Lizzie Esau exudes quiet confidence — the kind that comes from self-awareness and relentless self-investment. She doesn’t pretend the journey is easy. She knows what it costs to be a dreamer, and how difficult it is to create something meaningful without the machinery of a major label. But she’s doing it anyway.
With new singles on the way, a debut album on the horizon, and her place in a growing movement for change, Lizzie is ready to take that leap — wings and all. And if she’s not quite on this planet? That might just be where the magic lives.
Listen to Lizzie Esau’s latest single Bugs now, and follow her for updates on new music, live shows, and her upcoming debut album.
Interview with Lizzie Esau by Nick Pollard, May 2025. Photography by Kalpesh Patel & Louise Phillips.
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