Indiana (singer)

Lauren Henson, better known by her stage name Indiana, is a British singer-songwriter from Loughborough. Her 2015 debut album, No Romeo, includes the UK top 20 single "Solo Dancing" (2014).

Indiana
Birth nameLauren Henson
OriginLoughborough, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
Years active2011–present
Labels

Biography

Henson grew up in Loughborough, Leicestershire.[1] She moved to Nottingham to live with her partner, with whom she has two children: Etta (born in 2013) and Harvey.[1][2] She worked as a printer in a T-shirt boutique and runs a fashion label called Some Kind of Nature, which specialises in streetwear, with her partner and a mutual friend.[1][3] The family had moved to Long Eaton in Derbyshire by 2015.[4]

Henson began writing songs in 2010, after she taught herself to play piano using one that she was storing temporarily for her sister.[5] She was approached by musician John Beck after she uploaded a cover of one of his compositions, "Gabriel", to the video sharing website YouTube.[6] They wrote their first song together, "Blind as I Am", which she performed at her first gig in April 2012, at the semi-finals of the live music competition Future Sound of Nottingham.[5] Henson took her stage name, Indiana, in memory of her late father, who was a fan of the Indiana Jones film series.[6][7]

"Blind as I Am" was released as Indiana's debut single in November 2012, followed by "Bound" in February 2013, "Smoking Gun" in June 2013, and "Mess Around" in October 2013.[8][9][10] Also in 2013, Indiana signed a record deal with Sony Music and played at the Splendour in Nottingham and Glastonbury music festivals, the latter on the BBC Introducing stage.[2] She performed for Queen Elizabeth II during the monarch's visit to BBC Radio 1, singing a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" with Irish band The Script.[2]

Indiana's fifth single, "Solo Dancing", became her breakthrough release, amassing substantial attention from music blogs and inclusion on Time magazine's mid-year "Singles of 2014" list.[7] Released commercially in April 2014, it reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.[11] "Heart on Fire", its follow-up (in August 2014), was less successful, peaking at number 89 in the UK.[11] On 4 September 2014, Indiana appeared on BBC Radio 1's Innuendo Bingo.[12] and appeared again on 6 January 2015.[13] Indiana's debut album, No Romeo, was released in February 2015 and reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart.[11] John Beck co-wrote and produced the majority of No Romeo, which also features contributions from Joel Pott and Jesse Shatkin. Indiana embarked on a UK tour in May 2015 and performed for the second time at the Glastonbury Festival the following month.[14][15]

In July 2015, Indiana released an EP entitled State of Play, which features her track "Blind as I Am" alongside cover versions of George Michael's "Careless Whisper", Dolly Parton's "Jolene", and Blu Cantrell's "Breathe".[16] In November, she was featured on the single "Dance on My Heart" by producers Mark Knight and Adrian Hour.[17]

In 2018, Indiana was featured on the title track for Gunship's "Dark All Day" album, also featuring prolific 80's saxophone sensation Tim Cappello.

Topless photo controversy

In September 2018, Indiana created a controversy when she released topless photos of herself, her hands over her breasts, taken in front of a World War I memorial plaque in a London church.[18] She later explained that she didn't realize it was a war memorial when the photos were taken, and defended her actions by saying "'Pretty sure those boys that gave their lives for this country would enjoy a casual bit of side-boob."[19]

Artistry

Indiana describes her music as "menacing and emotional electronica with 80s-inspired synths and haunting vocals".[20] She cites James Blake, Gary Numan, Frank Ocean, Portishead, The Weeknd, and the xx as her biggest musical influences.[6][20] She has mentioned the soundtrack of the 2011 film Drive as being a major inspiration for her work.[21]

Discography

Albums
Title Details Peak chart positions
UK
[22]		 SCO
[23]
No Romeo 1722
Not Girlfriend Material --

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
UK
[22]		 IRE
[24]		 SCO
[25]
2012 "Blind as I Am" ——— No Romeo
2013 "Bound" ———
"Smoking Gun" ———
"Mess Around" ———
2014 "Solo Dancing" 14859
"Heart on Fire" 89—60
"Only the Lonely" ———
2017 "Bad Luck" ——— Not Girlfriend Material
2018 "Paper Cut" ———
"I Like Drinking" ———
2019 "Caroline" ——— TBA
"No Strings" ———
"Sweet Things" ———
"Tropical Daze" ———
"Break the Habit" ———
2020 "Physical" ———
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

References
  1. Nadia Khomami (13 September 2014). "Indiana: 'After gigs you'll find me changing nappies'". the Guardian.
  2. "Notts music star Indiana on The Queen, Radio 1 and motherhood | Nottingham Post". web.archive.org. 10 November 2013.
  3. "Spotlight: Indiana". Soundsphere magazine.
  4. "Indiana: Check out the Derbyshire pop star who played Glastonbury and has a top-20 single and album | Derby Telegraph". www.derbytelegraph.co.uk. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. "Indiana's already come a long way | Nottingham Post". web.archive.org. 26 July 2015.
  6. Andriana Albert. "Introducing: Indiana - The Line Of Best Fit". The Line of Best Fit.
  7. "Indiana Interview: Your New Favorite Pop Artist On 'Solo Dancing,' Stardom and Her 'Dark, Twisted' Pop. - Billboard". Billboard.
  8. "Indiana - Blind as I am is now available on iTunes, I... - Facebook". facebook.com.
  9. "Smoking Gun - Single". iTunes.
  10. "Mess Around - EP". iTunes.
  11. "INDIANA". officialcharts.com.
  12. "Indiana does Innuendo Bingo". YouTube. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  13. "Innuendo Bingo with Indiana". YouTube. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  14. Alexandra Pollard. "Indiana announces UK headline tour for May 2015 - tickets". gigwise.com.
  15. "Derbyshire artist Indiana returns to Glastonbury | Derby Telegraph". web.archive.org. 24 June 2015.
  16. "Ultimate Music - Indiana "State of Play – EP" - Available on iTunes!". Ultimate Music.
  17. "Mark Knight & Adrian Hour Team up with Indiana for "Dance on My Heart" [Video]". 9 November 2015.
  18. Petter, Olivia (6 September 2018). "SINGER SPARKS CONTROVERSY BY POSING TOPLESS IN FRONT OF WW1 MEMORIAL". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  19. Gorman, Rachel (7 September 2018). "Photo of topless Nottingham singer at church war memorial causes controversy". nottinghampost.com. Nottingham Post. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  20. "Indiana Singer Interview Mess Around – Music News (Glamour.com UK)". glamourmagazine.co.uk.
  21. "Indiana interview: 'I have to think about selling records now'". Digital Spy. 29 August 2014.
  22. Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
  23. Peak positions for albums in Scotland:
  24. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Indiana". Irish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  25. Peak positions for singles in Scotland:
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