Artist
Willow
Why we feature this artist A restless route from Whip My Hair to empathogen WILLOW’s recording history moves through pop, alternative R&B, guitar music and jazz-influenced songwriting without settling into a single fixed shape. The singer and songwriter first …
- From
- United States
- Sound
- Art pop, alternative rock, R&B
- Active
- 2010–present
Start with the music
Tracks to explore
The artist, in context
The story of Willow
Why we feature this artist
A restless route from Whip My Hair to empathogen
WILLOW’s recording history moves through pop, alternative R&B, guitar music and jazz-influenced songwriting without settling into a single fixed shape. The singer and songwriter first reached a wide audience with Whip My Hair in 2010. Her later albums make that explosive opening seem like one early possibility in a much longer search, with changes in rhythm and vocal phrasing as important as changes in genre.
Finding room beyond the first single
Whip My Hair was built for immediate impact, its insistent hook and forceful rhythm announcing a young performer with considerable presence. ARDIPITHECUS, released in 2015, took a more exploratory approach. Wait a Minute! gave that album a particularly enduring song, with a circling groove and a melody that feels conversational even as it stretches into more unusual shapes.
The recordings that followed made space for atmospheric soul and alternative production. Then lately I feel EVERYTHING, released in 2021, brought guitars and drums firmly forward. Travis Barker joined t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l, while G R O W paired WILLOW with Avril Lavigne and Barker. These collaborations placed her own writing in direct contact with the pop-punk language she was exploring.
Rhythm as a way of changing direction
The heavier guitar work did not become a final destination. On empathogen in 2024, piano, intricate bass movement and shifting rhythmic accents opened a different kind of space. Symptom of Life is a useful example of how her songs can move between tightly articulated passages and a more flowing release without losing their centre.
WILLOW shares writing and production credits across empathogen, and its detail rewards attention to the arrangements as well as the singing. The catalogue’s variety comes from those practical decisions: when to leave a phrase exposed, when to push against the drums, and when to allow a chord change to redirect the mood. Each album adds another answer rather than simply repeating the energy of her debut single.
Essential releases
ARDIPITHECUS
An exploratory debut album containing Wait a Minute!, far removed from the compact attack of Whip My Hair.
lately I feel EVERYTHING
Guitar-led songwriting with Travis Barker, Avril Lavigne and other collaborators bringing different shades of alternative rock.
empathogen
Piano, agile rhythms and detailed vocal arrangements make this a particularly revealing stage in her development.