Discovering her own musical identity through the singer-songwriters of her generation (Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus), these early influences infiltrated Bellah’s own musical creations that leaned towards rock, Americana, and country roots. Also surrounded by creative relatives, such as her granddad who was in a rock’n’roll band of his own, Bellah began to teach herself guitar at age 11. Fast forward to age 17, Bellah released a song independently, which found its way into the hands of Dolly Parton’s manager.
Initially rooted in country, Bellah is constantly expanding her sonic touchstones, pulling in her rock’n’roll roots and modern pop to create something that feels wholly unique. She retained country music’s penchant for storytelling, though, her songs peppered with colourful specificity. The response online to ‘Boyfriend Of The Year’ and her subsequent singles ‘Date Your Dad’, ‘Drama King’ and ‘On Purpose (For My Future Daughter) have all been championed by Radio 1 and further prove the effectiveness of this approach. Her songs also bite: filled with sharp observations and prickly kiss offs to bad boyfriends, they provide the sort of sing-a-long catharsis found in early Alanis Morrisette and, more recently, Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Good 4 U’.
Now in her early twenties, Bellah can find herself sitting amongst the UK’s leading Gen Z songwriters with her candid lyrics and quick-witted tongue, as heard throughout her debut EP With All Due Respect – a project written chronologically to chart the feelings experienced in the aftermath of a break-up, each track diving into a new stage of relationship grief.
Paired with her passion for music is Bellah’s desire to connect with people; so much so that for the recording of her single ‘On Purpose’, she invited fans into the studio to record backing vocals with her. The devoted relationship she has with her fans-also known as the “Hot Ex Girlfriend” community-has grown even stronger during the making of her upcoming EP Never Waste A Heartbreak, where Bellah enlisted them to sculpt the tracklisting sharing a collection of self-written demos and late night covers.
Each of Bellah’s releases have immediately connected with listeners, proven by the overwhelming crowd reception at her completely sold-out UK tour and performances in 2023’s festival circuit including Reading & Leeds, Isle of Wight festival and Brighton Pride. Her ability to forge deep connections with her audience, in any environment, is a core strength to her musicianship and is the reason why she’s created her own loyal community through her music.
“My job as a songwriter is to execute an emotion that we're all feeling into something that is specific but that also hits home to people,” Bellah says. In the tradition of other Gen Z artists her music defies categorisation, incorporating ever expanding sonic touchstones to create something that feels wholly unique, that has clearly resonated with listeners around the world having racked up an impressive 40 million streams across her releases to date.
