When our friends over at Noisey last spoke with Villette in June, she was putting the finishing touches on a then-untitled mixtape, which she’d largely self-produced (though much writing on Villette focuses on her agile, honeyed voice, her beats are just as impressive). All that work has become the nine track mixtape Drip Crimson — a good, evocative title, with even better cover art: a striking image of Villette with her two middle fingers deep in her mouth, looking up towards a something only she can see.
The New Zealander first made her way into our line of sight last year on UV boi’s Returned Alone EP, where she appeared on two tracks. In the months following, it’s become ever more clear that she’s got the voice — and in Valve Sounds, the solid label backing — requisite for pop splash, but it hardly seems like that’s on her radar. Instead, Drip Crimson is something of a concept mixtape. “It follows the process of a girl going through an unhealthy, toxic relationship,” she explains. It’s firmly R&B, but Villette certainly questions what it is that actually counts as R&B these days. The answer? Quite a lot. On the hero track, Bag of Bones, Villette brushes against Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek, and later, on the Amy Winehouse nod Stronger, she borrows a line from the Jazz great’s Stronger Than Me. It’s a dextrous, promising record, and more risks Villette takes, the better she’s gonna get. Press play on Drip Crimson now.
Find Villette on Instagram and Soundcloud.