Written by Emma Edwards
Before Lusaint began releasing original music, millions of listeners first discovered her through her smoky covers of ‘Wicked Game’ and ‘Don’t Let Go (Love)’. Now with a new EP on the way and her first European headline tour approaching, Lusaint is carving out her own path as an artist in her own right. Her latest single, ‘Love Bites Back’, explores the possibility of walking away from the wrong relationship.
Lusaint explains: “I started to write this song about a year and a half ago… I didn’t know at the time what I wanted to write about, but I knew that there was an old relationship I’d never really touched on when it came to my music.”
The breakthrough moment came when producer Jonny Lattimer played her a piece that immediately sparked something. “He played an instrumental and instantly I kind of knew… I wanted to write about this past experience with this specific sound.” That experience, she says, reflects a feeling many people recognise. She says, “You have maybe let somebody go and it doesn’t feel like it was the right thing to have done… you believe the grass is greener when it isn’t.”
For Lusaint, revisiting the relationship through songwriting was unexpectedly liberating:
“When I wrote about that experience, it was quite freeing really, and I think that I’ve actually learned quite a lot about myself through writing it.”
The song forms part of her upcoming EP ‘The Apothecary (Pt. 2)’, a project she describes as a reflection of personal growth. The title itself points to the healing process behind the music.
She says “I think writing this new music has been a healing process for me… in terms of who I am as an artist and who I still aspire to be.”
Looking at her earlier work, including ‘Self Sabotage’, she recognises how much has changed: “When I wrote that, I wasn’t really in the best place… but growing as a musician and a writer, and understanding myself better, was definitely like therapy for me in a lot of ways.” Performing those older songs today gives her a new perspective.
“When I perform them now on stage, I recognise how much has changed for me over the past year or so… that transition has really healed me.”
Musically, Lusaint’s work blends classic jazz and soul influences with modern pop songwriting. Growing up listening to artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, those influences naturally found their way into her voice. But she rarely enters writing sessions with a fixed idea of what the music should sound like.
“I go in never knowing what will come out… if somebody plays me a song or an instrumental, something might spark. When you get that spark, it’s so refreshing and rewarding.”
For many listeners, however, the first encounter with Lusaint came through her viral covers. While they gave her virality, they also came with a certain pressure. “I think there is a bit of pressure… from having those songs out there and it being a different sound to what I’m producing now.” Over time, though, she says the pressure has faded. “I’ve really figured out who I am now and what I want to create,” she says.
Despite the viral success, Lusaint’s journey into music was far from overnight. While studying fashion design at university, she was juggling two jobs while performing in pubs and restaurants around Manchester.
The moment she realised music might actually become a career still stands out. “I remember I was working in a stockroom in my retail job and I got my first paycheque from doing this work… and I will never forget that feeling,” she reveals. Those early gigs also helped shape the performer she is today. “You overcome so much fear… especially when you’re playing to people who are really drunk on a Saturday night,” she admits.
Now, Lusaint is preparing for her first European and UK headline tour, something she still finds hard to believe. “Knowing that people in other countries are listening to your music and want to be at your show… I don’t think that will ever feel real.”
Offstage, though, her life remains refreshingly simple. “I love staying home. I love being with my cat. I love drinking a hefty amount of Yorkshire tea,” she laughs. “My cat is my life… he’s called Claudius.”
From singing covers in Manchester bars to writing music reflecting her own life, Lusaint’s journey into the spotlight has been anything but conventional, and it’s only just beginning.
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