An interview taken from our new issue THE CLASS OF 2025. We spoke with Irish soul singer Shiv about her new album, the defiance of a Sad Girl. The rising star blends R&B, Lo-Fi Hip Hop, and soulful sounds, reflecting her unique background as a Zimbabwean raised in Ireland. Music has always been a part of her life, from singing with her mother to grooving to 90s R&B with her sister. Although she initially pursued a career in Educational Psychology, her passion for music took over after her heartfelt Maid of Honour speech went viral on YouTube, catching the eye of Dublin managers.
the defiance of a sad girl captures Shiv’s journey through a challenging phase in her life, including breakups and relocating, while branching out from her previous management and label. Recorded during a two-month retreat in Uganda, the album delves into themes of self-love and authenticity. With contributions from the Irish band Bricknasty and executive co-producer Adam Shanahan, Shiv’s work is infused with emotion and insight. She describes the album as a flowing piece of art, crafted from spontaneous thoughts and melodies.
Can you tell us more about the transformative period that inspired your new album, the defiance of a sadgirl?
The inspiration came from a pretty raw period of upheaval. I experienced the end of a relationship with my boyfriend and also cut ties with my management and label. It was this perfect storm of heartbreak, identity shifts, and finding myself forced to stand on my own creatively. Writing the defiance of a sadgirl became a way to process all that, a space to explore the cycle of losing and finding myself and, ultimately, to embrace a kind of defiance. Through these songs, I hope listeners can hear the journey from self-doubt to self-acceptance.. and inevitably back to self-doubt again. Such is life, the cycle repeats forever!
How did your upbringing in Zimbabwe and Ireland shape your musical influences and the sound of your album?
Growing up in Zimbabwe and then Ireland gave me this incredible blend of cultural textures, especially in music. Zimbabwe introduced me to rhythmic complexity and an appreciation for storytelling, while Ireland showed me how to weave in a deeply emotional, raw side. This duality of influences allowed the defiance of a sadgirl to have moments that feel both grounding and introspective while also rhythmically vibrant and even cathartic.
You mentioned the importance of creating a “stream of consciousness” feeling in your music. Can you describe your writing and production process during the making of this album?
It was about creating a real-time emotional journey. When I was recording in Uganda, I let the sessions flow naturally—capturing whatever came up without judging if it made perfect sense at that moment. When I returned to Ireland, Adam Shanahan, my co-producer, helped shape that rawness. We’d piece together the stream of thoughts, adding depth without compromising authenticity. It was like patching together diary entries and trusting the process to reveal a story in layers.
Your album explores themes like self-love and self-acceptance. What messages do you hope listeners take away from it?
I hope listeners feel that it’s okay to lose themselves sometimes, to go through a rollercoaster of emotions, and still try and find their way back to whatever their version of self-love is. the defiance of a sadgirl is a reminder that even in our darkest moments, there’s a possibility for growth, transformation, and peace. I want people to know they’re allowed to be messy, to doubt, and ultimately to accept that self-love doesn’t have to look perfect.
How did your experiences inform the narrative of your album?
Each song is like a snapshot of an emotion or moment. I struggled with finding the thread that would connect them all at first, but I realised that this struggle—the constant tension between feeling lost and rediscovering strength—was the core. So, rather than a single storyline, the narrative became cyclical, capturing the chaos and clarity we move through in life. Every experience I had, from the relationship’s end to leaving my label, shaped that story, and the layers keep revealing themselves the more life I live and the more emotions I process. A song is never just about one thing, your subconscious can’t help but weave in parts of you that you don’t even know exist. In this way, I often find myself surprised when a song I’ve written about one thing in the past can resonate so deeply about something completely different in the future.
What was it like collaborating with Bricknasty and co-producer Adam Shanahan? How did they influence the final sound of the album?
Collaborating with Bricknasty and Adam Shanahan was magical. I would say it was my favourite point of the album process. Bricknasty brought this incredible instrumentation that gave the album texture, while Adam helped mould that rawness into a cohesive sound. Adam is someone I’ve worked with from the start of my career, and he’s always encouraged me when it comes to production. His experience and reassurance allowed me to be able to fully commit to my ideas without second-guessing myself too much and gave me the confidence to believe in my vision for what I thought the album could be.
Read the full interview here:
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the defiance of a sadgirl is out now: ffm.to/thedefianceofasadgirl
Photography by Jessica Frayne
