Dionne is a London-based singer-songwriter and performer whose debut EP, Cooked, captures the feeling of being stretched to your limit yet refusing to give up on the dream. A little bit rageful, a little bit playful, and wonderfully sensual, her music lives in the space between exhaustion and determination, built on vivid storytelling, rich harmony, and the raw electricity and intimacy of live performance.
The youngest of three, Birmingham-born-and-raised, Dionne grew up in a house where music was simply part of daily life. Before dishwashers came into play, she and her siblings would sing three-part harmonies while doing the washing up; Sundays were for church, where her dad led worship and the siblings played in his band. Her earliest musical memories threading voices braided together, community, and being held by sound – her influences lying a door knock away.
Music runs deeper in her family tree. Dionne’s aunt leads the trailblazing a cappella quintet Black Voices, who toured internationally long before Dionne was born. At school, Birmingham’s orchestral system opened another world. Aged seven and offered the chance to learn any orchestral instrument from, Dionne chose violin (or maybe it found her) – following in the breath notes of her big sister, MOBO Award-winning, Mercury Prize nominated Laura Mvula – and her brother James took up the cello. Together, they became the Douglas String Trio playing functions, sharing stages with Black Voices themselves, and performing at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. She rose through youth orchestras and chamber groups, gaining a classical rigour that still underpins her work, grounding her ability to blissfully harmonise complex, layered melodies.
Throughout her upbringing, her parents made her music education a priority. Dionne appreciates how rare it felt that no one ever told her to “be realistic” or choose a “sensible” path. After studying vocal performance at Tech Music School in London, Dionne’s early career unfolded almost accidentally. Her sister Laura’s sudden major-label deal pulled Dionne and James into a whirlwind as her touring band, travelling the world together. Later, a chance audition via a session choir led her right into the heartbeat of Florence + the Machine’s live band as a backing vocalist – who she’ll now support on her forthcoming Everybody Scream 2026 tour.
For years, though, Dionne kept her own writing at arm’s length, convinced that “Laura was the songwriter of the family.” She wrote constantly – fragments and sketches – but rarely gave herself permission to finish songs. Eventually, she decided she was “allowed” to write – even if nobody else heard the music. That turning point came with a guitar-led song that felt undeniably Dionne. And thus, she found her flow and forte.
That process birthed her five-track EP, “Cooked”. Derived from the slang her tennis students use for being utterly done – overwhelmed, exhausted, on the brink – this project sees Dionne sit with frustration, confusion, spiritual fatigue, and flickers of hope without forcing a tidy happy ending. Influenced by Maya Angelou’s instruction to simply “tell the truth,” she leans into honesty over resolution, believing we must first find comfort in what is broken before we can begin to fix it.
Heavy, organ-like minor chords open up the first track “Be Here,” like a villainous operatic beginning – a real introduction to an artist and performer, with unknown tricks up her sleeve. Then, she unleashes her grungy-blues growl to kickstart love ballad, “I’d Be Yours.” It’s sexy and sinister, serving as both plea and declaration – a catchy chorus operating like a powerful manifestation, capturing the complexity of love. “When Sky Falls,” it falls hard – as does Dionne on the EP’s third track. Drum-driven and bumping with grit, her hauntingly-beautiful vocal fry sears on this angst-filled serenade. On the penultimate track (and lead single), “Out Of My Mind” honours the psychedelic, oozing with bouncing synths in a disco-funk that builds into a floaty punk-esque bridge. This part of her story ends with “One or Two”, a quietly-eery piano-led serenade that’s simultaneously dark and ethereal, wobbling emotionally to portray love’s indecision. Together, these tracks showcase Dionne’s musical mettle. From the intricate lyricism to the fringe melodies, the Birmingham-born singer-songwriter demonstrates the expansive breadth of her creative capacity.
Onstage, Dionne sees performance as a creative exorcism of sorts: a chance to fully indulge and release her emotions in real time. Drawing on years as an accomplice, she now steps into her own light as the heroine of her own story. In this next chapter, she invites audiences into an intimate expression of her artistry where the boundary between artist and listener feels paper-thin. With “Cooked”, she arrives not as a newcomer, but as an artist finally ready to command attention and claim her own voice.
Written by Aswan Magumbe.
