Approved: Esther Joy

Esther Joy Lane has come a long way since we first wrote about her music, and it's been exciting to watch her develop and hone her sound and style. Now really finding herself as an artist, she's set to release new EP, 'Psychic Tears', on 11 Aug. Marching out in front of that is lead single 'Samgel'. "Samgel is the name I use for the dark presence I experience and write about a lot in my music", she explains. "It is a part of me that has overwhelmed me so much in my life and been the root of most of my darkest moments. I named this track after it because as soon as I wrote that first synth line - the big intense one at the beginning - it was like I had found Samgel". "I couldn't express myself musically in the way I wanted to for such a long time, and I just wanted someone to swoop in and make it all easy", she continues. "Never finding those people was the best thing that could have happened because it forced me to get better on my own and now I am just starting to feel like I am sounding like me". Listen to 'Samgel' here: Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.