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Singer-songwriter Ophelia’s Eden’s discography offers a captivating blend of electro-pop and alternative pop to soul and folktronica. Her sound draws inspiration from a diverse range of artists such as Quincy Jones and Billie Holiday to Bon Iver, James Blake, Little Dragon, Jungle and Maribou State.

She grew up in the countryside hills and salty air of Devon, and then spent time developing her artistry in Brighton. She is currently living and travelling the world in her campervan, inspiring people along the way with her quirky style, passion for travel and advocacy for mental health. Following the release of her new single ‘MAD’, taken from her upcoming debut album ‘Boundary Road’, we chatted to Ophelia’s Eden about her music style, upcoming European tour and soon-to-be-released album:

What is the story behind Ophelia’s Eden? 

Ophelia’s Eden was born after years of playing with various collectives and bands, working on a variety of genres; soul, jazz, rock, neo-soul, blues, hip-hop, funk, Motown, classical, ambient, drum and bass, jungle, garage, 2-step the list goes on and on… During these times, I’d always recorded my own demos and composed arrangements, but when I started to focus on the production elements the sound design really improved and I was able to record and produce my own music from scratch. I decided to start my solo project: Ophelia’s Eden.

Could you explain your sound in a sentence?

It’s a pop feel with inspirational lyrics, blissful elements of nature and dreamy tones.

What was it that first got you into music? Has it always been something you wanted to do?

Music is definitely something I’ve always been so passionate about, I didn’t know that I wanted it as a career and chose to study philosophy and politics at The University of Brighton, but as soon as I got immersed in the busy music scene there I knew it was something I wanted to pursue. When I graduated I became a music teacher, performer and sound engineer.

You are currently travelling the world in your camper van! Tell us a bit more about that – where are you at the moment?

Yes! We’re currently in the north of Spain, along the Camino de Santiago route. We’re staying at this incredible campsite that’s right on the beach. So far the journey has been incredible, we’ve seen so many amazing places and met great people! It’s been 9 months of travelling now;  we’ve been to Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal and now we’re back in Spain.

What was it that first got you into travelling?

I was born in Germany, my Dad is Irish and my Mum is English. They met whilst my mum was living in Italy and she took a tour group to stay in my dad’s hotel (the hotel was exactly like the TV show Fawlty Towers). They both travelled their whole lives and worked in new places across the world, so it’s definitely something that I grew up intending to do. I went interrailing when I finished college, lived in Cape Town for a couple of months with my friend, and then I travelled to South America by myself when I was 19 during my uni break. I managed to come back safe and well, even though I did have a gun pointed at my head and I ended up on the Colombian border at 3am which was pretty scary! But everything apart from that was incredible and I’m still in touch with the people I met on my travels. I can’t wait to go back one day!

Where is your favourite location you’ve been?

Oooh this is a hard one! To narrow it down I’ll share my favourite location on this van journey so far! We stayed at a wild camping spot just by Los Bermejales Reservoir, which is a lake in the province of Granada. The lake is absolutely picture-perfect – when you are there it’s hard to believe the view is even real. A local lady also offered us to use her paddle boards on the lake which was so kind.

When it comes to writing, what is your creative process and where do you find inspiration?

When I was writing my album it was during lockdown. I was all alone in my basement studio, dreaming about travelling the world again. I was inspired by escapism; letting my mind travel around the world and capturing these memories and dreams in my compositions and sound design.

Your debut album ‘Boundary Road’ is being released in August – could you tell us your favourite track and why?

My favourite track is a song called ‘She’. It’s the final single from the album and it’s out on the 7th July. Sometimes when I’ve performed this song live I’ve welled up, and seen others in the audience too. It’s a song that is about reconnecting with the world again after being disconnected; whether it was because of depression or just a grey moment in life and then coming out of the slump and reconnecting with the beauty of the world and embracing the immense power of nature.

What are your plans for the rest of 2023?

I’m releasing an epic live performance video we recorded in Parque Geres-Pennes in the north of Portugal, an incredible national park! That’ll be released on the 21st July, and then the album is out on the 4th August.

We’re going to be exploring this northern region of Spain over the next month recording more live videos, and then we’ll be back in the UK for September, I’m playing at Little Orchard festival 8th-11th which is in Penhallow, Cornwall and then The Underground Link Up festival in Leamington Spa on 16th September. We’ll be heading back out to do another year on the road! This time I will be organising a tour across Europe and playing more live shows on the road which I’m really excited about! I’m also planning on embracing the UK festival season here next summer.