With honeyed vocals and cinematic storytelling, NZ-born, UK-based artist Len Blake seamlessly merges pop, indie, and R&B. Following her acclaimed debut, Len relocated to the UK to collaborate with heavyweights like Jordan Rakei and Jimmy Hogarth.
Her 2025 EP Lost in Comfort sparked viral success, earning a BBC Radio 1 play and global Spotify support. A captivating live performer, Len has graced stages from Love Supreme to sold-out London headlines. Whether through her soulful collaborations or her hand-sewn stage outfits, Len invites audiences into a rich, creative world built on storytelling and authentic connection. She chats to us about her latest singles ‘A+’, ‘Blushing at the BP’, ‘Dive In’ & more new music to come.
Hype Medium: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat! I feel like I haven't spoken to you in so long - the last interview we did was ages ago!
Len Blake: I know, I was just thinking it's been so long. I haven't really released music in ages, so it makes sense.
HM: Yes but very exciting! How's London going? How long have you been there for now?
Len: I've been here for over four and a half years now. I'll be coming on five years this year. I mean, I think because I cheat and I do the double summer that people are like “oh, yeah, you've been here for five years”. I mean, I literally go back to New Zealand every summer for three months.
HM: I can hear a bit of a UK accent as well slipping through!
Len Blake: Yeah, my accent's gone so weird. I can hear it, like, when I hear myself talking. Oh god, it’s embarrassing.
HM: It's great, I love it! A little mix, that's awesome. Well, thanks for jumping on and we are loving the new track ‘A+’! How long have you been working on that one?
Len Blake: Probably quite a while, but this one came from a session with this producer called Havelock in London. It actually would have been at the end of last year perhaps. It's funny because when you're doing a lot of sessions and you're working with lots of new people, sometimes one of the demos cuts through and really resonates, and you keep going back to it, keep going back to it. And that was one of them - I never got bored of it. I wanted to listen to it all the time, and so when it came to deciding what our next little interim single was gonna be, I was like “let's do this one, it’s so fun”.
HM: Yeah, it's so good! And can you tell me a little bit about the inspiration behind it and how it all came together?
Len Blake: Yeah, I think at the time of writing it, and still, I was definitely trying to write with less inhibition, maybe leave a more refined sound for a second. I think I was feeling probably in myself a bit more, slightly more unhinged, like nothing crazy (laughs). I was listening to a bit more pop rock and indie rock, and I was enjoying these women like Chappell and Olivia Rodrigo and stuff who were writing very earnestly and kind of insane levels of honesty. And I think it was just fun for me to try and leave that refinement at the door for a second, and just do something fun.
I also like experimenting with like indie soul sound which has been fun. I mean, a lot of artists I'm sure can relate to maybe get a bit fatigued in one genre. Especially because I still feel like I'm starting out, having the privilege to be able to try out these different sounds is so cool. And it does feel a bit weird, because you're like, “oh, how are people going to receive a new sound?” and you want to write music for your audience that you have, and you know that they like this stuff, so it's like, “do you also like this?” (laughs). You've got to be kind of brave but I trust my audience is gonna understand and have a go.
Hype Medium: Yeah and it still feels genuinely you. Obviously you’ve released music in the soul kind of space before and then now being in bit more of a pop space, but your vocals are amazing and as you said, it’s this light, fun, upbeat vibe. I'm really excited for all the new music to come - hopefully soon!
Len Blake: Thank you. It's fun to just talk about the humiliation ritual of dating, oh my God! Trying to put yourself out there, and I think I wanted to go in on just feeling like an absolute fool or just feeling a bit insane (laughs) And like the pettiness of the chorus.
Hype Medium: (laughs) It’s so good, and I feel like so many people can kind of relate to that, and the dating game is so crazy. Everyone understands how insane it is!
Len Blake: Oh my God, it's chronic. It's so awful. Yeah, it's very revealing when you've been in the kind of comfort of a relationship, and then you get out of the wallowing and self-pity, and then you're like, “okay!”. And then it's like “oh my god, why didn’t anybody tell me this is terrible?!” (laughs). And people are like, “oh, London!” and it's like, no. London doesn't help. You'd think because there's more people (laughs). No, I mean you have some good experiences then you're fine.
Hype Medium: (laughs) Yeah you’re so fine!
Len Blake: I mean, it's all me and my mates talk about. Like we are very prolifically single, all of us, which is amazing. We're being like “de-centere men, de-centere men” - all we talk about is boys (laughs).
Hype Medium: (laughs) That's so funny. And what would you say was one of your biggest highlights working on this track and opening up in this new sonic space?
Len Blake: Oooh, that's a good question. I mean, I loved working with Havelock. We had so much fun and with James Kenosha actually, I finished the track with him. And I often re-vocal with him, he's got a really good way with mixing and mixing vocals. And I got my friends to send me voice notes, and they're tucked in at the beginning, and tucked in at the beginning of the second verse, and they're so funny if you could actually hear what they sounded like. We obviously couldn't make them that loud because they were insane.
But just no rules, having a bit more fun with it. I think the bridge was really fun to write as well, just switching it up and bringing in a bit more of that kind of moody realness, like this is actually how it felt. Thinking a bit more about the origin of the pettiness, that bridge kind of brings you back to reality for a second. And honestly the fun part of the process has been playing it live as well. I always love trialling new songs with a live audience, and with the band who just absolutely killed it. They did such a good job with this one.
Hype Medium: Yeah! And I also wanted to touch on some of the other tracks that you've most recently released as well, starting with ‘Blushing at the BP’. Love this one, such an amazing song. Can you walk us through what the writing and production process was behind that one? I know you released that quite a while ago!
Len Blake: That was another fun one. I think I wrote these two quite close together. Qgain, allowing myself a little breath from maybe some of that more kind of smooth R&B vibe, which I still obviously love, and I'm still writing in that way. But again, just trying new stuff was so fun. I worked with Fred Cox in London and I mean it's ridiculous like that BP is even in the title (laughs). That one was definitely thinking about obsession, and when you get a crush and you just go completely insane which I think a lot of people can relate to as well. You just lose your mind a bit. Yeah, that whole love and limerence conversation that is very talked about now.
It was so fun to write with him, and he’s just the coolest, and he's in a punk rock band (laughs). I think I went in and I was just like, “I just want really heavy guitars” and he was like
“interesting, I didn't think we were going to go this way”. I just wanted to try it out, and it's so fun live. And then worked with Oscar Keys on the music videos, all the little sort of visualizers for that track, and it was so much fun to do that. Obviously, we were at the petrol station, just kind of screaming on the ground. Made all my outfits for that thing.
Hype Medium: Yes, all the videos look so amazing! And then another track I wanted to touch on was ‘Dive In’ which is more of this house electronic track with Only Chris and MALARKEY which has racked up over 15 million streams on just Spotify which is insane!
Len Blake: A lot of new things, actually, now that I think about it! Yeah, it popped off. It went off.
Hype Medium: How did that collaboration come about and what's it been like seeing such an incredible response to it?
Len Blake: Yeah, it was amazing. That all kind of went down in the summer, my New Zealand summer, so like January time. They’re a couple of mates of mine who are also on the same management as me. Only Chris, he'd obviously been working on this track with MALARKEY, and then I got a message like “hey, do you want to do the vocals on this?” And obviously I hadn't really done much dance music, I hadn't really done any toplining. But I was like, “yeah sure, I'll give it a go”. But they needed it really quickly, and the best part was that I think they went to bed and it was my morning in New Zealand. So I knew what I was singing. And so I went to my aunty’s house in Titirangi and she’s an actress and so she has like a voice set up downstairs, like a voice mic for recording ads. On the way, I'm like downloading a trial of Logic (laughs) and watched a YouTube video on how to record vocals in Logic. And then got to her house, had it all set up, plugged it in, blanket over the head “Baby, dive in!” (laughs). Luckily there wasn't that many words, you know.
Hype Medium: (laughs) Amazing! And it sounds so good!
Len Blake: It's a whole different environment. It's really fun, all the songs are just so upbeat and they're made for the club and usually I'm just like getting my notebook out and writing the saddest shit ever (laughs).
Hype Medium: Yeah, like a diary entry! And is there something you can tell us around what you're working on now? Have you been in the studio and what's coming up?
Len Blake: Yeah, I'm excited for what's coming up. I'm working on this new project with Josh Fountain so I'm coming back soon and I'll be in the studio with him. It's really exciting.
Hype Medium: Incredible! Have you started writing for that, or are you waiting until you're with him to start?
Len Blake: Yeah, I think a bit of both. It's funny - London's quite a big city and you really feel like you're in it physically. You can't really see out of the buildings. You don't get much perspective. And I feel like it's not till I come back to New Zealand when you have a bit of space and you have a bit of time. It’s really hard to write sometimes when you're in something, and so when I go back, it's going to be really fun to be able to start something new. So there'll be an EP out hopefully early next year. Shot New Zealand On Air, thank you.
Hype Medium: Amazing! That's awesome, I'm so excited to hear what's to come. And we'd love to know, since we're a New Zealand music platform, are there any Kiwi artists that you're especially loving right now? Or any specific songs you're listening to, or albums that you love?
Len Blake: Oh my god, there's a lot of good stuff coming out of New Zealand right now. I mean, I have to shout out Muroki obviously. We had a track together and he's here now, which is great. I think he's doing the sort of back and forth as well, but I loved that album and it was so fun jumping on his tour last summer. I’ve been loving Frankie Venter's doing, she's absolutely killing it. No Cigar on tour - love those guys. They're great. And I'm pretty sure they're going on tour with Frank On Tap. Hina Beaming - she's come out with something new. I feel like there's quite a lot going on in New Zealand at the moment.
Hype Medium: I think so too. Those are some great picks! Yeah I feel like this is perfect time to start releasing songs ahead of summer, and there's lot of gigs happening.
Len Blake: Yeah, totally. I mean, TEEKS is killing it. Mohi Allen. He's great, and he did the thing with Loyle Carner. But sometimes I do feel a little separate from it until I go back, but luckily going back so often, you can reconnect with everyone. Josh is good, because Josh works with everyone, so he's like “you should listen to this, this and this”. Yeah, you know what? There you go. LEISURE is my favourite Kiwi band (laughs).
Thanks so much Len! Make sure to keep up with her on Instagram, TikTok, Spotify or Apple Music.
