“Oh, it’s a conscious decision, baby. I’m a big fan of mystery. As social media has become so ubiquitous, with people sharing so much of their lives, I feel like I’m going the opposite way and wanting to share less and less.” bbyclose laughs. And yet, throughout our conversation, the British singer-songwriter lets us in a little. Not by revealing everything, but by sharing small pieces of herself—how she writes, what inspires her, and why some songs seem to arrive almost out of nowhere. The picture that emerges feels wonderfully human: intuitive, thoughtful and guided by feeling rather than formulas.
Her latest single, temptations, is one of those songs that grabs you from the very first seconds. Built around warm piano-house production and the instantly memorable refrain, “Every night in my dreams, keeps me up, I can’t sleep…”, it captures a feeling most of us know all too well—the thoughts that return at night when we’d rather be asleep. But instead of getting lost in them, temptations turns them into something light, playful and impossible not to dance to.
Before stepping into her world as bbyclose, Sarah Close had already spent years writing and collaborating with artists across the electronic music scene. Today, she continues to create her own artistic universe—one where bold visuals meet honest songwriting, while still leaving enough room for a little mystery. After all, not every mystery is meant to be revealed.
In our conversation, we talked about songs that seem to write themselves, the beauty of not revealing everything, why red became the heart of the bbyclose universe, and finding joy in life’s simplest moments.
Photography by bbyclose, courtesy of the artist.
Styling by Phoebe Butterworth
Wearing a red hat by Josef Lloyd
Hi Sarah, it’s lovely to have you with us! temptations has been on repeat over here. It feels like the perfect summer song. You said it came together almost instantly. Do your favourite songs usually happen that way, or do they tend to take more time?
Not to get too woo-woo here, but some songs—my favourite songs—are the ones that feel like they came from my unconscious mind. The melody that comes the moment you hear the chord, or the word that you mumble as you’re sketching out the melody. When a song takes more time and I’m really having to fight to find a melody or an idea that feels right, that’s typically my conscious brain writing the song. I guess I see those songs as coming a little less from the heart. I have so much more to say on this topic, but I’m trying to keep it succinct.
You mentioned that after hearing the track, you wrote temptations in about three minutes. Did it really happen that fast, or am I getting that wrong? (smiles)
(laughs) It really did happen that fast! I’ll have to send you the voice note where it all comes together. It’s like I said above—we heard the track and quite quickly started singing the melody. You can hear in the voice note that I sing, “Every night in my dreams,” and me and Sophie are like, “Yeah, that feels good.” Then I sing, “All these temptations” at the end, and it all just falls into place. We probably spent another ten minutes tweaking things and perfecting the lyrics, but temptations really was a very quick song to write. Sometimes songs just come from a higher place, and this was one of them.
temptations is about obsession. Have you always been someone who feels things deeply?
Yes, ever since I was a baby. I think, wonder and feel a lot.
What I really love about the song is that, even though it’s about something many of us can relate to—lying awake at night with thoughts you can’t switch off—it still feels incredibly uplifting and leaves me smiling. What kind of feeling were you hoping people would have when they first hear it?
I hope they feel sexy and freeeee and fun and flirty. It’s a roll-down-the-windows, turn-the-volume-up, let-your-hair-go-wild-and-sing-as-loud-as-you-want-while-driving-down-the-road kind of song, for me.
“It’s a roll-down-the-windows, turn-the-volume-up, let-your-hair-go-wild kind of song.”
You keep parts of yourself quite mysterious. Is that something that comes naturally to you, or was it a conscious decision from the beginning?
Oh, it’s a conscious decision, baby. I’m a big fan of mystery. Privacy is so hot—and so underrated. As social media has become so ubiquitous, with people sharing so much of their lives, I feel like I’m going the opposite way and wanting to share less and less.
Red has become such a big part of your visual identity. What is it about that colour that keeps drawing you back?
When I dream of the world I want to live in and the woman I want to be, it’s a place where women and minorities are allowed to express themselves and live exactly as they want. Red is a bold, daring, fierce, captivating, sexy and feminine colour. It symbolises everything the bbyclose world is about.
You’ve worked with so many incredible artists over the years. Is there one collaboration that taught you something unexpected about yourself?
Definitely my first collaboration, Kisses. When it was first pitched to the record label, they wanted to keep my vocal on it but not have my name on the song as a featured artist—something that happens to a lot of women, and something I promised myself I would never agree to.
I refused and told them that if they wanted the song, I had to stay on it as a featured artist. If I hadn’t done that, my entire life would be different. It taught me that you can actually say no and stand strong for yourself during negotiations.
“You can actually say no and stand strong for yourself during negotiations.”
Once In A Lifetime with Dimension became such a huge success. Did you ever imagine it would connect with so many people?
I think when you’re in the studio, you always hope, but you can never truly know. Dimension did an amazing job of playing the song out for almost a year before its release. He really built a lot of hype, and that helped it connect with so many people before it had even come out.
You have such an infectious energy on stage. It always looks like you’re genuinely enjoying every second. Do you still get that same excitement every time you perform?
Yes!!!! This is my first summer of playing festivals, and I’m enjoying it so much. I really can’t wait for more.
When you’re not making music, what usually helps you slow down and clear your mind?
I love gardening. I’m growing some tomatoes and herbs right now. I also love to cook and enjoy coming home from the studio, putting my music on and making myself some yummy food. I’m also really into swimming right now.
Finally, what is one little thing that has made you smile recently? (smiles)
I love this question. Last Friday I was walking to my local park with my favourite pizza from my favourite pub in hand—I was jet-lagged and treating myself. As I crossed the road, a cat on the other side crossed too. Obviously, I can’t see a cat without giving it some attention, so I was stroking it and talking to it.
As I walked away, it just stayed there in the middle of the road. I was like, “Don’t do that—you’ll get run over!” Then a man walking by said, “Oh, don’t worry, that cat does that all the time.” We ended up having a short conversation about cats and how silly they are.
It was just a really sweet, simple human interaction, and those kinds of moments bring me a lot of joy.
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