At the time of our interview, there’s just ten-a-half-hours to go until Becky Hill’s second album, Believe Me Now?, is unleashed on the world. But as the Bewdley-born artist has found, “life doesn’t stop” – even for major releases from one of the biggest dance acts in UK music.

“I got locked out of my house last night,” she tells me, “because I got my keys cut at the cobblers, and they shut before I could get them back. But I’ve managed to get back in and get my own pants on – which is pretty useful!”

At the age of 30, and over a decade in the business – having featured in the first season of The Voice UK back in 2012 – Becky has scored two BRIT Awards, clocked up 10 billion streams, and had 19 UK Top 40 singles, including a No.1 for her Oliver Heldens collaboration ‘Gecko (Overdrive)’. But she’s also faced her fair share of struggles in the industry, and reckons her career trajectory has, for the most part, taken the form of “a gradual climb.”

“I’ve been in the music industry for 12 years, so to only be putting out my second album in that time feels pretty mental, really,” she admits. “For a long time it felt like I was banging my head against the wall, and that nobody was interested. They knew the songs, but nobody really knew my name.”

It didn’t help that, at the age of 19, she was dropped from her first record deal – having been, she claims, “mistreated so badly” by the label.

“I truly believe I could’ve released an album at the time, and it would’ve been really good,” she says. “MNEK is a longtime collaborator and best friend of mine, and we’d written this really cool synth-pop album. But it never got to see the light of day, because the record label threw me aside.”

That poor treatment of artists in the industry hasn’t completely vanished, she tells me – noting, as one example, fellow UK star RAYE’s much-publicised struggle to release her debut album.

“The difference with me is that I was always told to keep my mouth shut, when I got dropped,” Becky resumes. “I was very much told to not say anything – because I would’ve looked like damaged goods. I was told that other labels wouldn’t want to sign me if they saw that I run my mouth.”

After signing to Polydor several years later, Becky eventually got the chance to release her debut album, 2021’s Only Honest On The Weekend – made up of songs written over the course of the previous nine years. Believe Me Now?, in contrast, was written over nine months. She describes it as a more “focused and considered” project.

“It’s been so nice to see the hard work paying off,” she reflects now. “I wish I could go back and tell Becky in her early 20s: ‘It’s all going to pay off. You’ll be headlining Parklife and releasing your second album, and doing a nearly sold-out arena tour.’ It would’ve given me the hope that I really needed at that time.”

The new album opens with the Self Esteem (aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor) collaboration ‘True Colours’ – a deeply vulnerable yet ultimately empowering track inspired by Becky’s own experience of sexual assault.

“To write that song – and to play it, over the past few months – was a really big help for me,” Becky reflects. “I just hope that other people can find solace in it.

“This is the first time I’m stepping out and talking about such personal issues,” she continues. “Self Esteem is quite seasoned in the area, so it was really helpful to have somebody so experienced and knowledgeable to hold my hand through the process. And not only that, but she sounds absolutely amazing on the record. Let the Beckys take over, I say!”

Having teamed up with the likes of David Guetta, MK, Little Simz, Meduza, Rudimental, Chase & Status, and fellow Longitude performers Joel Corry and Sonny Fodera over the course of her career, Becky is a strong believer in the power of collaboration.

“People are better when they share ideas, and work together,” she reasons. “Music is no different. I love working with other people, and I love the bonds that I’ve created. It’s made the whole songwriting process a lot easier, especially on this album.”

Her track with Chase & Status, ‘Disconnect’, which features on the new album, finds her reconnecting with her musical roots – having grown up listening to drum & bass through her older brother Adam.

“My brother saved up all his money when he was 16 to get decks,” she recalls. “Music, especially drum & bass, was massively powerful for him. He lost his best friend when he was 16, and music was a real escape. I’m six years younger than him, so watching my big brother massively influenced the way I listen to, and feel, music.

“I’ve always loved drum & bass,” she adds, “so I’m glad that I still get to be a part of it.”

Was there pressure, when she was first starting out, to steer away from that passion for dance music, and stick to more straightforward, radio-friendly pop?

“It was only me that put the pressure on myself,” she admits. “I felt like drum & bass wasn’t very international. It only resonated in certain areas of Europe, and it didn’t cross over to America at all. I was listening to artists like Robyn at the time, which was more synth-pop, so I was travelling down that route.

“Then I started getting so much success from doing dance music, and I thought, ‘Why am I trying to fight this? I love dance music, and I’m very knowledgeable in the area. This is what I should be doing for my own project.’ And that’s kind of when my career changed.”

She’s spoken out in the past about dance having long been a male-dominated world – and she’s happy now to see things “definitely moving in the right direction.”

“We’ve got a long way to go,” she resumes, “but it’s really lovely to see the floodgates open for more women to be DJs, producers and singer-songwriters. It’s been a long time coming.”

One artist who has certainly blazed a trail in that regard on this side of the Irish Sea is Jazzy – who joins Becky on the Saturday line-up for Longitude, and also opened for the English star at her massive Cork and Belfast shows earlier this month.

“I’ve seen the chart successes she’s had, and how big she is in Ireland,” says Becky. “It’s lovely to see that.”

Becky herself has always had a particularly strong following in Ireland, with her debut album charting higher here than it did in the UK. Having previously played Longitude in ‘22, Becky’s now looking forward to making her return to the festival this month, and getting to “party with everybody.”

Becky Hill at Virgin Media Park, Cork, 14 June 2024. Copyright Trevor McGrath/hotpress.com

As she looks ahead to Album No. 3, she’s already thinking about potential collaborators – including “Irish boy Maverick Sabre.”

“He’s amazing,” she enthuses. “I love what he’s doing – and I love what he’s always done. We’ve written together before. I don’t think we’ve quite got a song out the door yet, but I really want to work with him some more. He’s so incredibly talented. I’m looking forward to that.”

Believe Me Now? is out now. Becky Hill plays Longitude on Saturday, June 29.

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