Charlotte Dowsson is part of a new wave of R&B artists building momentum with little more than instinct, honesty, and a strong sense of self. Raised on ‘70s soul and early 2000s vocalists, her sound blends soft sax lines and sultry harmonies with the emotional clarity of someone who’s lived through what she’s writing about.
With just a handful of independent releases, she’s already earned more than 1.6 million streams, 75,000 TikTok creations using her songs, and support from BBC Introducing and the PPL x Trench Incubator programme.
Her latest single, “Slightest Change,” traces the emotional drift of a relationship with layered vocals, lap steel guitar, and a deep sense of restraint. We caught up with her to talk about where the track came from, how she’s building her audience in real time, and what she’s learning from the current R&B scene.
What’s the story behind Slightest Change? Did it start with the lyrics or the music?
It was me reflecting on not so great past relationship. I think I’m very good at realising things after the fact with love and romance but in the moment I get quite caught up in my lover girl feelings, but the song is about the sudden realisation that you get when you draw to the end of a toxic relationship and you realise that you deserve better. It explores a range of emotions from frustration, doubt, pleading & confusion and love in relation to the other person. I wanted to show the inner conflict you feel when you know you should leave the situation but how hard it is so allow yourself to come to that conclusion.
The current R&B scene is full of exciting voices right now. What are you enjoying about it, and where do you see yourself in it?
What I’m really loving about the current UK R&B seen is that there is there is so much diversity everyone is doing something different in this big umbrella of a genre & killing it.
I love the KWN and Natanya, I love Odeal I love Summer Banton I love Sasha Kebal I love FLO.
I think where I place myself in this renaissance of R&B is brining my love of 70s/80s soul and jazz and mixing that with the contemporary women of R&B that I love. My sonic signature right now is saxophone and strings definitely influenced by Sade but I blend more contemporary sounds that are a homage to artists like brandy and Aaliyah to create Charlotte Dowsson.
What’s one thing that’s helped you meet the right people in music, whether that’s collaborators, producers, or mentors?
I definitely think it’s been taking full advantage of the fact that I live in London. I feel incredibly grateful to live in one of the biggest centres of art and creativity and music in the world and I don’t I take that lightly.
There’s always an event, there’s always a jam there’s always something to go to, so I definitely think that was a big help for me and also reaching out to people online like shooting my shot and not really caring if I got a reply reply back. I have made such great connections & met such amazing creatives from doing that & I think I’m an age and a time that navigating a healthy relationship with social media can feel tricky using it and seeing it as a space to make new connections I think it really cool.
What advice would you give to someone trying to grow as an artist without a big team behind them?
I think realise the value you hold as the musician & artist because it’s immense. Without artist there are no managers, without artists there are no labels, without artist there isn’t a music industry to begin with and I think when I first started out, I definitely felt that feeling of you know a big separation within myself and the infrastructure, but I think when I stopped thinking about trying to get a team and just focused on my over of doing music the perfect people entered my life & I hahe faith that if I continue trying my best and creating things I’m proud of more of the right people will come.
Who are you listening to right now that’s inspiring you?
I’ve got quite an eclectic music taste so my playlists can look a little crazy at times, you never really know what’s gonna come next. I love vocal stacking so I listen to lots of Boyz II Men, Brandy Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. But I’ve also been really banging out Odeal and Jim legacy and I think both of their recent tapes are crazy, I think their ability to keep growing as artists and not allowing themselves to be boxed in but still have a distinct sound is really inspiring. My voice can go quite low, so I love listening to Toni Braxton and definitely think she’s influenced my more sultry songs & as mentioned before Sade will always be on rotation. Most recently I’ve been re falling in love with is it a crime.