Singer-songwriter Mimi Webb has been described as a “viral pop powerhouse”. At just 22, her music has racked up over 250 million streams, she is one of the most popular young British artists on TikTok with 1.3 million followers and, ahead of the release of her debut album next week, she was a nominee at the BRIT Awards. She’s also knackered, letting out a huge, comical yawn shortly after we start chatting on Zoom. “Oh god, I’m so sorry! It just came out, I’ve no idea where that came from!”
Webb can be forgiven for being tired. Two days earlier, she was at the BRITs for the first time after being nominated for Best New Artist. The day after, she flew out to Cologne for a whirlwind promotional tour of her upcoming new album, Amelia, and now, she’s in a hotel in Berlin for more press before she travels further across Germany. She’s also getting ready for a headline tour this spring.
To speak to, she is reminiscent of one of her heroes, Adele; down-to-earth, open and very funny. “I met Adele once,” Webb smiles. “It was the best day of my life, hands down.” The meeting was backstage at a Billie Eilish concert and Adele told her to “stay strong and true to herself,” something that stuck with Webb at a time when she was still struggling to find her identity as a new artist. “I have always admired how genuine Adele is, so it meant the world hearing her say that to me.”
Like Adele, Webb also had a stint at the BRIT school of performing arts and eventually signed to a major label when she was just 18. She attended the school every weekend from a young age, her mum driving her there and back every Saturday from the family home in rural Kent.
At 15, she enrolled at BIMM, the British and Irish Music Institute, and moved to Brighton to study, staying with a host family. After posting videos of DIY compositions from her bedroom, she quickly amassed a large fanbase and a record deal followed. Four years later, Webb’s music has racked up millions of streams, gone viral on TikTok and landed her several chart hits. She even performed in front of royalty at last year’s summer jubilee concert.
She’s excited to release her debut album. “It tells a much deeper story than my previous work,” she continues. “I think it’s something where people can really get to know me so much better as an artist and a person.”
The songs are Webb’s most personal to date. The album’s title track Amelia (Webb’s first name) is written as an emotive, reassuring letter to her younger self, and the upbeat Ghost Of You is about reigning in the crippling anxiety she experienced from an early age.
Last year, after a heavy workload, her anxiety spiralled and she ended up in hospital. The song and social media posts that followed helped her open-up about her mental health struggles, just as fellow young musicians Arlo Parks, Wet Leg and Sam Fender had done earlier that year.
“I think people were kind of surprised when they heard that story and the background to it from me,” Webb says of the song. “It had been lurking for a while. It started to simmer, simmer, summer and then… bang, it was there. It was something you’d never really go to the doctors about, or never talk about. I wanted this song to be like, ‘Right guys, it’s okay. This is something that everyone goes through, this is actually completely normal. I’m dealing with this too, here it is on a plate.’ I wanted people to not worry, to know that it was all going to be okay in time.”
Webb says it’s important to speak publicly about mental health. “I don’t speak up much, I’m very new to this industry and I’m still finding my voice as I go, but I feel like I’m being drawn to certain subjects and mental health is a huge one for me. At the end of last year, I dealt with [my issues] and really had to focus on getting myself together.”
She also struggled to find her musical identity initially, as industry executives encouraged her to emulate the sounds of other, more established artists rather than give her the time and space to find her own voice. It affected her creativity. “It sucked the life of it,” she says.
She hit her “lowest point” in 2019 and she was close to turning her back on the career she’d dreamed of since childhood. But it was her mother who helped her get through it. Then the pandemic meant everything stopped, and it gave her time to work at her family home without pressure. She hunkered down, wrote songs and found her voice.
“It was a clean pause where I could catch up and figure out who I wanted to be as an artist,” Webb says. “I honestly don’t think I would’ve been here without that time because I was in just such a low place.”
Her work paid off and debut single, Before I Go, amassed a staggering 17 million Spotify streams and went viral on TikTok; follow up I’ll Break My Heart Again followed a similar path. Her 2021 EP Seven Shades of Heartbreak proved her breakthrough moment and her self-confidence returned.
Her success culminated in a BRIT award nomination for Best New Artist earlier this month. While she lost out to Wet Leg, it was still a milestone moment. “I couldn’t believe it. To be on that red carpet and just to be among those amazing artists was crazy. I walked in and my song House on Fire was playing. I just felt on top of the world.”
At the awards, she met some of her heroes – not least Harry Styles whose music was an inspiration for Webb while making her debut album. “I met Harry Styles at the BRITs; he said I was smashing it,” she laughs. “He was super lovely and made me feel super confident.”
Ellie Goulding also gave her advice. “She said, ‘Whatever happens, you are your own artist and you’ll still be smashing your shows, selling your tickets, getting your streams and putting out albums. This is a night to enjoy, just soak every second of it up.’ I think I really needed to hear that right at the start of the night before the awards started. I’ve never been to an award show before and she made me think, ‘Yes, this is just the beginning.’”
She also enjoyed seeing artists like Lizzo and Cat Burns. “Lizzo was just incredible – she looked so powerful, strong and gorgeous.”
Her album is certainly a celebration of women. Red Flags is an ode to women taking ownership of their lives and avoiding toxic masculinity. “It’s a song that recalls a time I was just completely running through red flags [in a relationship] and it was pulling me down, making me feel awful and I lost a lot of self-love and worth,” she sighs.
“It’s one where I learned about toxic love. When you’re constantly thinking about them it’s not healthy or right. You need to be able to enjoy your own life and be in the moment and present in your own life. I feel like every [woman] has been through one of these.”
Elsewhere on the album, songs are a mixture of poppy dancefloor celebrations and heartfelt balladry, something Webb says is akin to the two sides of her personality. “It’s a mixture between the Mimi sassier kind of uplifting, upbeat songs and the [Amelia] emotional balladry.”
Webb says she’s comfortable now with showing more of herself. “It’s [become] such a therapeutic process…releasing these songs,” she says. “The more I go on, the more vulnerable I get and I think the more honest and authentic you are, the more people get to know you and it connects.”
