Like many successful Gen Z musicians, Isimeme “Naomi” Udu – AKA Hemlocke Springs – became TikTok-famous virtually overnight, when her track Girlfriend – crowned the ultimate “awkward Black girl anthem” by one commentator – went viral in November last year. The gleeful, quirky hit has everything you could want from a pop song: an earworm hook, zany production flourishes and a bold rhythm. Udu’s vocals shape-shift wildly, switching from soft and wispy to theatrical and operatic.
Such range can also be found on her freshly released debut EP, Going… Going… GONE!, a seven-track showcase of her crate-digger love of musical styles, not least her affinity for synth-driven 80s styles (seen on songs like The Train to Nowhere and Gimme All UR Luv) and starry-eyed K-pop (such as on Enknee1).
Udu is surprisingly shy; music was a stress-busting escape from her master’s degree in medical informatics at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire (she released Gimme All UR Love in 2022 as her midterm exams loomed). Her parents, Nigerian immigrants who settled in North Carolina, only recently discovered the extent of her side-hustle.
As a Black musician in the indie-pop space, Udu says she’s experienced her fair share of racist abuse online, but focuses on the music and the joy that it brings her. She told NME: “We live in such a depressing world, let’s just be colourful. That’s the goal.”
Going… Going… GONE! is out now on Good Luck Have Fun. Hemlocke Springs will perform at Dingwalls in Camden, London, on 9 November and is supporting Ashnikko on her UK tour in November and December
