British singer-songwriter Griff’s career has been an undeniable whirlwind. Less than two years after releasing her first single — and finishing her A-level exams — she won the for Rising Star. Then she opened for .
Then . Then . Then .
In between those gigs, solo shows and music releases, she worked on the songs that make up her debut album, “Vertigo," out now. “The usual steps that you take as a new artist have been a bit, like, upside-down,” the 23-year-old, whose full name is Sarah Faith Griffiths, told The Associated Press in an interview. “An album is such a step hitting the ground, and it’s such a milestone I’ve always wanted to get to.
” In that sense, this moment feels like a career beginning, she said. The immersive pop album tracks the emotions that come with that kind of whirlwind — alongside those that follow other destabilizing events, like growing up and experiencing heartache. Griff said inspiration for the project came, “funnily enough,” from navigating a spiral staircase in one of the houses she wrote the album in — in this case, a cottage belonging to the musician and songwriter Imogen Heap.
She said the physical reality of the experience easily lent itself to an emotional equivalent, and it's stuck with her ever since. “That was just a very real, tangible feeling that I have had, and still have, at this stage in my life,” she said. “Tears For Fun" and “Miss Me Too” explore that dizzying emotion through layered production.
