Estelle Is Back: The Singer-Songwriter On Healing, Legacy & Creating An Album That “Sounds Like Joy”

“If I could be anywhere in the world, I would build a life I don’t want to run away from,” shares singer-songwriter Estelle. It’s not about chasing paradise – it’s about finding peace. She speaks like someone who’s fought for it, realising that true contentment comes from within, not a place.

The London-born musician has lived in Los Angeles for years now, soaked in sunshine and solitude – far from the soundbites and spectacle that surrounded the early years of her career. But if you think she’s gone soft, you’re mistaken. There’s a clarity to Estelle. A sharpness that’s been honed offstage, not on it. Because while the world still sings along to American Boy like it’s 2008, she has quietly been crafting something new – in her own space, at her own pace.

Estelle’s first album in seven years, Stay Alta, is a vibrant fusion of sunshine, funk and soul. It’s the sound of someone reclaiming joy – not because the world asked for it, but because she finally felt like dancing again. “I’ve been [in the industry] for a while, and it hasn’t changed the quality of my music or my life or the person I am,” she says, her voice a blend of SoCal warmth and New York grit (from her years spent living there after she moved to the US to record her second album Shine) – yet it never loses the unmistakable core of a Londoner.

“I’ve been living good. Happy. Joyful,” she says, smiling with self-assurance. “I mind my business. I think it’s a reaction to the idea that you ‘have’ to have all your ‘stuff’ [business] outside in order to be popular. It was like that 10 years ago, it was like that 20 years ago. I never did it, and I don’t care to.”

In the seven years since releasing her last album, Lovers Rock, Estelle has reached a turning point: acceptance. “I was like, ‘This is what I do for a living, this is it now, so you’ve got to make it work,’” she says. “I make some songs up in my head, and you guys want to hear and sing along to it. It means as much to you as it means to me.” For a while, she wrestled with this. “It was a conflicting thought in my head, like, ‘It works already; stop. You‘ve done the things, sown the seeds and they’re blooming – enjoy them. You don’t have to force it,” she explains. It’s this sense of release, of creating on her own terms rather than pursuing external expectations, that has powered her ever since. 

But Estelle has always danced to her own rhythm, never bending to fit someone else’s narrative. Outside noise barely registers: “I’m not going to walk around being a caricature for you because you believe that,” she says. “I had to show up as my true, authentic self. If people’s kids’, kids’, kids are [still going to be] listening to American Boy, this is me moving it forward.”

During the pandemic, cocooned in a sunlit bubble, Estelle found herself with endless opportunities to dive into her personal archive of inspirations. She began rethinking everything – her relationships, career, her sense of self. During that internal questioning (and dancing), she essentially rediscovered her joy. “I feel like people were being awakened and understanding a different way of being enlightened, and I was, too,” she says. “I was relearning a bunch of things that I’d been taught as a child, readjusting my relationship with myself, my family, people around me, my relation to things, this business – everything. I was like: ‘What keeps you above ground?’’” Her reprieve? Dancing in her living room to George Clinton, Sister Sledge, Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson – just a few of the legends that shaped her musical DNA.

In 2023, she launched The Estelle Show on Apple Music Radio, a project that helped her rediscover her groove and set the tone for a new chapter. It became a moment of reflection between two eras, where she could engage with her upbringing and its influence on her career. Raised in the culturally rich neighbourhoods of West London, she was surrounded by a blend of music, activism and strong community ties. Her parents, both from the Caribbean, instilled in her a deep sense of pride in her roots and heritage. “That’s what the show is all about: we come from somewhere,” she says. “I want people to remember that. Don’t forget – you are who you are because we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. We have history and legacy, and it’s beautiful. Listen to it.” Reflecting on her place in music, she adds, “The fact that they said, ‘Come and play Black music – wherever, however, whatever.’ I said, ‘Yes, absolutely.’”

That joy – the kind that comes from dancing to and living in the music she loves – became Estelle’s compass. It was from that energy that Stay Alta was born: a musical rebellion wrapped in disco beats and funk-infused freedom. “I wanted to dance,” she says, swaying happily in her seat – a real-time example of the excitement that drives the album. “I just wanted to fucking make an album and go crazy.” That wild, uninhibited joy sparked a new chapter in her career, one that honours her roots while reimagining the future of feel-good music. “I didn’t want to feel sad anymore. I don’t want to feel like this is the only option in music. The world is not coming to an end,” she says, making it clear that the album wasn’t just about the music – it was about pure, unapologetic freedom that invites you to dance until you feel free.

The album is far from a solo affair; it‘s a jubilant collaboration with friends and long-time collaborators, including some industry legends. “D-Nice, he‘s my brother,” she says of the DJ, record producer and her long-time collaborator. “We really go back. He was one of the main reasons behind the bulk of the recordings in the middle of the pandemic.” His daily Instagram sets pulled her into a routine of digging through golden oldies, making it only natural for him to feature on the album. He lights up the track Love on Love, a soulful, bass-driven number that captures their chemistry.

The celebration continues on the title track – a bouncy, bass-heavy anthem with a funky house vibe, featuring rapper and DJ Channel Tres. Here, Estelle invites everyone to join in: “Stay high, stay up, you know, stay in your highest vibration.” Another highlight is Let It Drop, featuring Grammy-nominated Durand Bernarr. “Physically, he’s an instrument. There’s Prince, and then there’s Durand Bernarr,” she says, in awe of his electric presence. It’s an album made for good times – as Estelle recommends, “Grab your friends, grab your drinks” – with a vibe that pulses through every track.

For Estelle, this album “sounds like joy,” she says proudly. It honours her soulfulness, with a dash of the hip-hop and pop that we’ve grown to love her for – yet it feels like a new chapter entirely. “Once they hear the full album, they’ll understand the joy that I have,” she says. “I have no doubt that they’re going to understand what this music means – it’s truly me.” If this is the moment she’s arrived at, then she’s more than content with the journey: “The fight is over. It’s been over,” she says, reflecting on nearly 20 years. “Now, I can just walk in as myself, and that‘s it. Whatever happens next is purely on me, and there’s no pressure because I enjoy this.”

She doesn’t read as a star staging a comeback, rather as someone who never left – now, she’s just moving differently. Estelle chose the quieter path, and now returns not with noise, but lucidity. In a culture hooked on reinvention and constant visibility, there’s something quietly radical about the way she’s spent the last decade: low-profile, self-contained, intentional. Her music now speaks volumes – not through spectacle, but through a calm, unshakable sense of self. It doesn’t need to shout. It knows exactly what it’s worth.

From the trousers she swears by and her dream dinner party guest to the artwork she’s saving up to hang on her wall (not to mention the cult UK restaurant she’s set on bringing to LA), here, Estelle shares her Culture List in our video interview... 

Estelle’s new album, Stay Alta, is out 23 May