Indiana (singer)

British musician

Indiana

Henson in 2014

Background information
Birth name| Lauren Henson
Origin| Loughborough, England
Genres|

* Trip hop
* electronica

Occupations| Singer
Instruments|

* Vocals
* piano

Years active| 2011–present
Labels|

* Sony
* Epic

Musical artist

Lauren Henson, better known by her stage name Indiana, is a British singer-songwriter from Loughborough. Her 2015 debut album, No Romeo, includes the UK top 20 single "Solo Dancing" (2014).

## Biography

[edit]

Henson grew up in Loughborough, Leicestershire.[1] She moved to Nottingham to live with her partner, with whom she has two children.[1][2] She worked as a printer in a T-shirt boutique and runs a fashion label called Some Kind of Nature, which specialises in streetwear, with her partner and a mutual friend.[1][3] The family had moved to Long Eaton in Derbyshire by 2015.[4]

Henson began writing songs in 2010, after she taught herself to play piano using one that she was storing temporarily for her sister.[5] She was approached by musician John Beck after she uploaded a cover of one of his compositions, "Gabriel", to the video sharing website YouTube.[6] They wrote their first song together, "Blind as I Am", which she performed at her first gig in April 2012, at the semi-finals of the live music competition Future Sound of Nottingham.[5] Henson took her stage name, Indiana, in memory of her late father, who was a fan of the Indiana Jones film series.[6][7]

"Blind as I Am" was released as Indiana's debut single in November 2012, followed by "Bound" in February 2013, "Smoking Gun" in June 2013, and "Mess Around" in October 2013.[8][9][10] Also in 2013, Indiana signed a record deal with Sony Music and played at the Splendour in Nottingham and Glastonbury music festivals, the latter on the BBC Introducing stage.[2] She performed for Queen Elizabeth II during the monarch's visit to BBC Radio 1, singing a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" with Irish band The Script.[2]

Indiana's fifth single, "Solo Dancing", became her breakthrough release, amassing substantial attention from music blogs and inclusion on Time magazine's mid-year "Singles of 2014" list.[7] Released commercially in April 2014, it reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.[11] "Heart on Fire", its follow-up (in August 2014), was less successful, peaking at number 89 in the UK.[11] On 4 September 2014, Indiana appeared on BBC Radio 1's Innuendo Bingo.[12] and appeared again on 6 January 2015.[13] Indiana's debut album, No Romeo, was released in February 2015 and reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart.[11] John Beck co-wrote and produced the majority of No Romeo, which also features contributions from Joel Pott and Jesse Shatkin. Indiana embarked on a UK tour in May 2015 and performed for the second time at the Glastonbury Festival the following month.[14][15]

In July 2015, Indiana released an EP entitled State of Play, which features her track "Blind as I Am" alongside cover versions of George Michael's "Careless Whisper", Dolly Parton's "Jolene", and Blu Cantrell's "Breathe".[citation needed] In November, she was featured on the single "Dance on My Heart" by producers Mark Knight and Adrian Hour.[16]

In 2018, Indiana was featured on the title track for Gunship's "Dark All Day" album, also featuring prolific 80's saxophone sensation Tim Cappello.

### Topless photo controversy

[edit]

In September 2018, Indiana sparked controversy when she released topless photos of herself, her hands over her breasts, taken in front of a World War I memorial plaque in a London church.[17] She later explained that she did not realise it was a war memorial when the photos were taken, and defended her actions by saying, "Pretty sure those boys that gave their lives for this country would enjoy a casual bit of side-boob."[18]

## Artistry

[edit]

Indiana describes her music as "menacing and emotional electronica with 80s-inspired synths and haunting vocals".[19] She cites James Blake, Gary Numan, Frank Ocean, Portishead, The Weeknd, and the xx as her biggest musical influences.[6][19] She has mentioned the soundtrack of the 2011 film Drive as being a major inspiration for her work.[20]

## Discography

[edit]

### Studio albums

[edit]

Title  | Details  | Peak chart positions

|
|

[21] | SCO
[22]
No Romeo |

* Released: 16 January 2015
* Label: Epic
* Formats: CD, LP, digital download

| 17 | 22
Not Girlfriend Material |

* Released: 24 August 2018
* Label: Audio Network Ltd
* Format: Digital download

| — | —

### Singles

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Peak chart positions  | Album

|
|
|

[21] | IRE
[23] | SCO
[24]
2012  | "Blind as I Am"  | — | — | —  | No Romeo
2013  | "Bound"  | — | — | —
"Smoking Gun"  | — | — | —
"Mess Around"  | — | — | —
2014  | "Solo Dancing"  | 14 | 85 | 9
"Heart on Fire"  | 89 | — | 60
"Only the Lonely"  | — | — | —
2017  | "Bad Luck"  | — | — | —  | Not Girlfriend Material
2018  | "Paper Cut"  | — | — | —
"I Like Drinking"  | — | — | —
2019  | "Caroline"  | — | — | —  | Non-album single
"No Strings"  | — | — | —
"Sweet Things"  | — | — | —
"Tropical Daze"  | — | — | —
"Break the Habit"  | — | — | —
2020  | "Physical"  | — | — | —
"Small Town Girl"  | — | — | —
2021  | "Isolation"  | — | — | —
"Summer Lovin' Druggie"  | — | — | —
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Nadia Khomami (13 September 2014). "Indiana: 'After gigs you'll find me changing nappies'". The Guardian.
2. ^ a b c "Notts music star Indiana on The Queen, Radio 1 and motherhood | Nottingham Post". 10 November 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
3. ^ "Spotlight: Indiana". Soundsphere magazine.
4. ^ "Indiana: Check out the Derbyshire pop star who played Glastonbury and has a top-20 single and album | Derby Telegraph". www.derbytelegraph.co.uk. 24 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
5. ^ a b "Indiana's already come a long way | Nottingham Post". 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015.
6. ^ a b c Andriana Albert. "Introducing: Indiana – The Line Of Best Fit". The Line of Best Fit.
7. ^ a b "Indiana Interview: Your New Favorite Pop Artist On 'Solo Dancing,' Stardom and Her 'Dark, Twisted' Pop. – Billboard". Billboard.
8. ^ "Indiana – Blind as I am is now available on iTunes, I... – Facebook". facebook.com.
9. ^ "Smoking Gun – Single". iTunes. 11 October 2013.
10. ^ "Mess Around – EP". iTunes. November 2013.
11. ^ a b c "INDIANA". officialcharts.com.
12. ^ "Indiana does Innuendo Bingo". YouTube. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
13. ^ "Innuendo Bingo with Indiana". YouTube. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
14. ^ Alexandra Pollard (January 2015). "Indiana announces UK headline tour for May 2015 – tickets". gigwise.com.
15. ^ "Derbyshire artist Indiana returns to Glastonbury | Derby Telegraph". 24 June 2015. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015.
16. ^ "Mark Knight & Adrian Hour Team up with Indiana for "Dance on My Heart" [Video]". 9 November 2015.
17. ^ Petter, Olivia (6 September 2018). "Singer sparks controversy by posing topless in front of WW1 memorial". The Independent. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
18. ^ Gorman, Rachel (7 September 2018). "Photo of topless Nottingham singer at church war memorial causes controversy". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
19. ^ a b "Indiana Singer Interview Mess Around – Music News (Glamour.com UK)". glamourmagazine.co.uk.
20. ^ "Indiana interview: 'I have to think about selling records now'". Digital Spy. 29 August 2014.
21. ^ a b Peak chart positions in the United Kingdom:
* All except noted: "Amy MacDonald > UK Charts". Official Charts Company. officialcharts.com/.
* "Heart on Fire": "CHART: CLUK Update 6.09.2014 (wk35)". Zobbel.de.
22. ^ Peak chart positions for albums in Scotland:
* No Romeo: "Chart Archive > 14th February 2015". Official Charts Company. 14 February 2015.
23. ^ "Discography Indiana". irish-charts.com.
24. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in Scotland:
* "Solo Dancing": "Chart Archive > 3rd May 2014". Official Charts Company. 3 May 2014.

## External links

[edit]

Authority control databases: Artists |

* MusicBrainz

|