Gabriella Cilmi

Gabriella Cilmi is an Australian singer-songwriter from Melbourne, born in 1991 and raised in Dandenong. Her music sits across pop, dance-pop, pop rock, pop soul and teen pop, and she is also associated with jazz influences. She moves from mainstream pop into more eclectic material and has cited a broad range of influences, including Nina Simone, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, The Sweet, T. Rex, Cat Stevens, Suzi Quatro, Dolly Parton, Tricky and Enya.

Early career

Cilmi grows up in an Italian and Albanian family and moves to London with her parents and brother when she is fifteen. Before her solo career develops, she sings with a band called Foucault, performing cover versions of songs by Led Zeppelin, Jet, Silverchair and others. She also records original material with the writer-producers Barbara and Adrian Hannan of The SongStore. In 2004, a performance of the Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash at the Lygon Street Festa in Melbourne brings her to the attention of Warner Music executive Michael Parisi.

Recording career

At thirteen, Cilmi travels to the United States and the United Kingdom with Adrian Hannan and is offered four major US record deals. She later signs to Island Records UK. Her debut album, Lessons to Be Learned, is written and recorded with Xenomania and becomes a moderate international success after its 2008 release. The album includes Sweet About Me, which reaches number one in Australia, number six in the UK and number seventeen in Ireland, and is used in a worldwide advertising campaign for Sure/Rexona. Other singles from the album include Save the Lies, Don't Wanna Go to Bed Now and Sanctuary.

Later albums

Her second studio album, Ten, arrives in 2010. Its lead single, On a Mission, reaches number nine in the UK and number sixteen in Australia. For the album, she works with Greg Kurstin, The Invisible Men, Dallas Austin and Xenomania. The record includes songs described by her as drawing on funk, disco and electropop, while Boys features yodelling and Let Me Know is presented as a return to the style of Lessons to Be Learned. Love Me Cos is her first production credit and is made with her band.

By 2010 she is already working on a third album. She later parts ways with Island Records and her management team, saying she feels pressure to adopt a more sexual image and prefers to make music on her own terms. An acoustic version of Vicious Love appears in 2012, with blues influences. Her third studio album, The Sting, is released in 2013 on her own UK-based imprint, Sweetness Tunes, in association with Absolute Marketing & Distribution. Its lead single is The Sting, and a second single, Symmetry, is also planned.

Awards and live appearances

In 2008, Cilmi receives six ARIA Music Awards, including Single of the Year and Best Female Artist. She also performs new material at the Moxafrica Festival in 2013, including Come Wander With Me and Sweeter in History, alongside Sweet About Me.