Shura | |
---|---|
Birth name | Alexandra Lilah Denton |
Also known as | Aleksandra Lilah Yakunina-Denton |
Born | Hammersmith, London, England | 17 June 1988
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) |
|
Years active | 2011–present |
Labels | |
Website | weareshura |
Alexandra Lilah Denton (also known as Aleksandra Lilah Yakunina-Denton, born 17 June 1988), [5] [6] [7] known professionally as Shura, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. She is known for her work in the genres of electropop and synth-pop.
During night shifts at her workplace (a video editing facility), she watched YouTube tutorial videos on how to use music production software. [8] [9] Her single "Touch", co-produced with Joel Pott of Athlete, drew positive notice from internet blogs during early 2014; its music video was co-directed and edited by Shura herself. [1] [8] [10] Two other singles, "Just Once" and "Indecision", followed the same year, and Shura produced a remix of Jessie Ware's single "Say You Love Me". [11] [12] [13] [14] Shura was longlisted in the BBC Sound of 2015 poll. [15] Shura is also signed to Universal Music Publishing Group in the United Kingdom. [16] She released the single "2Shy" in March 2015, followed by "White Light" and a performance film titled Three Years in June 2015. [17] [18] [19] An EP titled White Light was released in the United States in July. [20] The same year, Shura performed at music festivals including Bestival, Festival N°6, and Latitude. [19]
In December 2014 she was named as one of the nominated acts on the longlist for the BBC music poll Sound of 2015. [21] Mumford & Sons have covered her song "2Shy". [22]
Shura's "Touch" was released on 18 February 2016 alongside a version featuring Talib Kweli. [23] The Original Mix was released on Record Store Day 2016 as a limited 12" single featuring remixes from Canvas and Delorean. [24]
Her debut album Nothing's Real was released on 8 July 2016 via Polydor Records. [25]
In 2018, she was reported working in the studio on new music with frequent collaborator Joel Pott, as well as Tourist and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.
In 2019, she made a comeback after three years of silence, when she collaborated with British musician Tourist on the song "Love Theme", which was released on Valentine's Day through his second album Everyday. Tourist explained that the song was a concept originally written by Shura and had a piano demo that was sent to him by her with the lyrics "I don't want to be the centre of attention, but I want your love". The following month, Shura announced her comeback single, entitled "BKLYNLDN", alternatively titled "Brooklyn London". It was premiered by Phil Taggart on BBC Radio 1 on 10 March 2019 where it was revealed as the "Chillest Record".
Shura's album Forevher was released on 16 August 2019 via Secretly Canadian. Shura announced the album on 12 June 2019 with the release of single "Religion (U Can Lay Your Hands on Me)". [26]
In a November 2019 interview with The Guardian , former Spice Girls member Melanie C revealed that she has been working on her eighth studio album with Shura. [27]
On 16 March 2020, Shura released the single "elevator girl" featuring the Philadelphia rapper Ivy Sole. [28] She released an alternate version titled "elevator girl (Space Tape Edit)" on 22 May 2020. [29] On 19 July 2023, Shura was featured on the single "Call Me A Lioness", released in celebration of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The single also featured Olivia Dean, Melanie C, Marika Hackman among others. [30]
Shura was born in Hammersmith, London, and grew up in Manchester. [31] Her mother is a Russian actress and her father is an English documentary filmmaker. [1] Her parents divorced when she was three. [32] Shura has two brothers, including a twin, Nicholas, who has starred in three of her music videos: "Touch", "White Light" and "What's It Gonna Be?". [33] [34] She began playing the guitar when she was 13 years old and started recording music at 16. [35] [36] Shura had been a promising footballer in her youth and played for Manchester City from under 11 to under 16 level, despite being a Manchester United fan. [37]
Shura is an out lesbian and an atheist, despite a long-standing fascination with religion. [38] [39] [40] In summer 2014 she experienced a severe panic attack, which she described as "feel[ing] like I [was] dying." [32] Her stage name comes from a short form of her first name in Russian, a language Shura is fluent in. [32]
Shura's music has been described as "infectious but melancholy electropop" [39] as well as "slow-burning synth-pop" but has said that pop music "didn't represent" her. [34] The singer has said that "missed opportunity, regret, nostalgia" are some of the main themes in her work. [34]
Year | Awards | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Popjustice £20 Music Prize | "What's It Gonna Be?" | Best British Pop Single | Nominated | [41] |
2019 | Music Producers Guild Awards | Herself | Remixer of the Year | Won | [42] |
UK Music Video Awards | "Religion" | Best Pop Video - Newcomer | Nominated | [43] | |
Best Art Vinyl | Forevher | Best Vinyl Art | Nominated | [44] |
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [45] | BEL (FL) [46] | BEL (WA) [47] | IRE [48] | SCO [49] | SWI [50] | US Heat [51] | ||
Nothing's Real |
| 13 | 73 | 130 | 73 | 15 | 35 | 12 |
Forevher |
| 61 | — | — | — | 32 | — | 18 |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Touch" | 2014 | Nothing's Real |
"Indecision" | ||
"2Shy" | 2015 | |
"White Light" | ||
"Touch" (re-release featuring Talib Kweli) | 2016 | Non-album single |
"What's It Gonna Be?" | Nothing's Real | |
"The Space Tapes" | ||
"311215" | ||
"Nothing's Real" | ||
"Love Theme" (with Tourist) | 2019 | Everyday |
"Bklynldn" | Forevher | |
"Religion (U Can Lay Your Hands on Me)" [53] | ||
"The Stage" | ||
"Elevator Girl" (featuring Ivy Sole) | 2020 | forevher (Deluxe Edition) [54] |
"Obsession" (featuring Rosie Lowe) | 2021 | |
Artist | Song | Year |
---|---|---|
Jessie Ware | "Say You Love Me" | 2014 |
Pumarosa | "Priestess" | 2015 |
Mabel | "My Boy My Town" | 2016 |
Tegan and Sara | "Boyfriend" | |
Kiiara | "Gold" | |
Astrid S | "Breathe" | 2017 |
Aurora | "Queendom" | 2018 |
NIMMO | "It's Easier" | 2018 |
The Undercover Dream Lover | "Tightrope" | 2020 |
Delilah Montagu | "Loud" | |
Becca Mancari | "Lonely Boy" | |
Saint Sister | "Dynamite" | 2023 |
Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin, known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish composer and singer-songwriter. The music of Enya is widely recognised for featuring multi-layers of her vocals, varied instrumentation, lengthened reverb, and subtle Celtic elements. Her career as a solo artist, now over four decades long, is notably an atypical path to success in the music industry. As the second-best-selling Irish music act overall, after rock band U2, Enya is the best-selling Irish solo artist, believed to have sold over 80 million albums worldwide.
Kylie Ann Minogue is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Minogue is the highest-selling female recording artist from Australia, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinventing herself in music as well as fashion, and is referred to by the European press as the "Princess of Pop" and a style icon. Her accolades include two Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards and eighteen ARIA Music Awards. Time named her one of the most influential people in the world.
Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs when she was the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at the age of 15. After disputes with the label, she signed with J Records to release her debut studio album, Songs in A Minor (2001). Met with critical acclaim and commercial success, the album sold over 12 million copies worldwide and won five awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. It contained the Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Fallin'." Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003) was met with continued success, selling eight million units worldwide and spawning the singles "You Don't Know My Name", "If I Ain't Got You", and "Diary". Its release earned an additional four Grammy Awards.
Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong, known professionally as Dido, is an English singer and songwriter. She attained international success with her debut album No Angel (1999). Hit singles from the album include "Here with Me" and "Thank You". It sold over 21 million copies worldwide, and it won her several awards, including two Brit Awards; additionally, she won Best British Album and Best British Female as well as the MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act. The first verse of "Thank You" is sampled in "Stan", a critically acclaimed collaboration with American rapper Eminem. Her next album, Life for Rent (2003), continued her success with the hit singles "White Flag" and "Life for Rent". In 2004, Dido performed with other British and Irish artists in the Band Aid 20 version of the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?".
Geraldine Estelle Halliwell-Horner is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, author, and actress. She was a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Ginger Spice. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the Spice Girls are the best-selling female group of all time. Their slogan "girl power" was most closely associated with Halliwell and her Union Jack dress from the 1997 Brit Awards also became an enduring symbol. Halliwell left the Spice Girls in 1998, citing exhaustion and creative differences, but rejoined when they reunited in 2007.
Natasha Anne Bedingfield is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut album, Unwritten, in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed international success with more than 2.3 million copies sold worldwide. Bedingfield received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the title track "Unwritten", and at the 2005 and 2006 Brit Awards, she was nominated for Best British Female Artist. Unwritten also produced her only UK number one, "These Words".
Robyn Rihanna Fenty is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, actress, and songwriter. She is widely regarded as one of the most prominent recording artists of the 21st century. Rihanna signed with Def Jam Recordings in 2005 and found mainstream recognition following the release of her first two studio albums, Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006). Both influenced by Caribbean music, the albums quickly earned commercial success and peaked within the top ten on the US Billboard 200 chart. Her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), incorporated elements of dance-pop, and established her status as a major icon in the music industry. Its lead single, "Umbrella" peaked atop the US Billboard Hot 100, won her first Grammy Award from three nominations, and remains one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Zara Maria Larsson is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She first rose to prominence in 2008 after winning the second season of Talang, the Swedish version of the Got Talent format. She later attained international recognition with singles including "Lush Life" (2015), "Never Forget You" (2015), "Girls Like" (2016) with Tinie Tempah, "This One's for You" with David Guetta, "Ain't My Fault" (2016), "Symphony" (2017) with Clean Bandit, "Ruin My Life" (2018) and "On My Love" (2023) with David Guetta.
Elena Jane Goulding is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Polydor Records, she released her debut extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding (2009). Goulding's debut studio album, Lights (2010), debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and was later reissued as Bright Lights, spawning three successful singles: a cover of Elton John's "Your Song", "Starry Eyed", and "Lights". Her second studio album, Halcyon (2012), was preceded by the lead single "Anything Could Happen". Halcyon Days (2013), a repackaged edition of Halcyon, produced the single "Burn", which became her first No. 1 single in the UK. Following her third studio album, Delirium (2015), and its lead single "On My Mind", Goulding received her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance for her single "Love Me like You Do".
Ariana Grande-Butera is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, she is noted for her four-octave vocal range and her signature use of the whistle register. Grande has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including one Brit Award, two Grammy Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, nine MTV Video Music Awards, and 35 Guinness World Records. Rolling Stone ranked her amongst the greatest vocalists of all time.
Rita Sahatçiu Ora is a British singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to prominence in 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. Her debut studio album, Ora (2012), debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and produced the number-one singles, "R.I.P." and "How We Do (Party)". Ora was the artist with the most number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart in 2012, with three singles reaching the top position.
Amethyst Amelia Kelly, known professionally as Iggy Azalea, is an Australian rapper and model. Azalea's accolades include two American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, a People's Choice Award, four Teen Choice Awards and four Grammy Award nominations. Azalea is popular on video sites, her Youtube channel has accumulated 3.4 billion views, and 15 of her music videos have received over 100 million views on Vevo.
Samuel Frederick Smith is an English singer and songwriter. In October 2012, they performed on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. The following year, they performed on Naughty Boy's 2013 single "La La La", which became a number one single on the chart.
Gabriella Michelle Henderson is an English singer and songwriter. She competed in the ninth series of The X Factor UK in 2012, being the eighth contestant eliminated despite being a strong favourite to win. She signed with Syco Music shortly after, and released her debut studio album, Chapter One (2014), which reached number one in the UK. The album spawned the chart-topping single "Ghost", as well as the top 20 singles "Glow" and "Yours". Henderson went on a four-year hiatus in 2015. Her second studio album, Everything I Didn't Say, was released in 2022.
Jessica Hannah Glynne is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Atlantic Records, she rose to prominence in 2013 as a featured artist on the singles "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and "My Love" by Route 94, both of which reached number one in the UK. She was considered one of the "Most Influential People Under 30" by Forbes magazine in 2019.
Meghan Elizabeth Trainor is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold 11 million copies worldwide. Trainor has released five studio albums with the label and has received various accolades, including the 2016 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Aurora Aksnes, known mononymously as Aurora, is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and record producer. Born in Stavanger and raised in the towns of Høle and Os, she began writing her first songs and learning dance at the age of six. After some of her songs were uploaded online and became popular in Norway, she signed a recording contract with Petroleum Records, Decca and Glassnote Records in 2014. Aurora gained recognition with her debut extended play (EP), Running with the Wolves (2015), which contained the sleeper hit "Runaway". Later that year, she provided the backing track for the John Lewis Christmas advert, singing a cover of the Oasis song "Half the World Away".
Celeste Epiphany Waite is a British singer and songwriter. She began her career in 2014 providing vocals for electronic producers such as Avicii, Tieks and Real Lies, while also self-publishing content onto SoundCloud on the side. She made her solo debut via Lily Allen's vanity label Bank Holiday Records with the EP The Milk & the Honey (2017), and then released her second EP Lately (2019) after signing with Polydor Records in 2018.
Nothing's Real is the debut studio album by English singer Shura, released on 8 July 2016 by Polydor Records. The album was met with positive reviews from music critics.
Rachel Agatha Keen, known professionally as Raye, is an English pop/R&B singer-songwriter. Her debut studio album, My 21st Century Blues (2023) was released independently to critical and commercial success, and won Album of the Year at the 2024 BRIT Awards. Among five other awards for which she was a recipient, Raye broke the record for most wins and nominations for an artist at the ceremony in a single year.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)