Siena Spiro is inevitable.
That much was evident when the British singer walked off the stage at the conclusion of her first U.S. concert at The Troubadour in West Hollywood last week, with her young fans in tears as they chanted her words and industry executives wondering to the audience whether she was the next Adele or Amy Winehouse.
Just don’t ask her why, she’s still looking for answers too.
“I don’t know, you’ll have to tell me,” she says with a slight chuckle on Zoom days after that show, when asked what she thinks has caused this increasingly heightened excitement over the past few months. “I’m just being myself and trying to make music that I love.”
Whether that’s a serious answer or just a bit of humility from a 20-year-old who knows better than to get ahead of herself this early in the race, we can try to answer instead. At its simplest, it has an otherworldly sound. Deep and smoky with impressive control and just a touch of Etta James’ rasp, Spiro is a sound not so much influenced by jazz legends like Winehouse or Nina Simone as a direct descendant.
Add to that the timeless ’60s flair and heartbreaking ballads like “Die on This Hill” and “You Stole The Show” — which have been present in a total of 8.3 million TikTok videos and have both surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify — and it’s hard not to see how Spiro has become one of the industry’s most anticipated contenders poised to make stars in 2026.
Spiro is one of many acts leading a new British invasion of soulful pop girls, joining the likes of Olivia Deen and Lola Young. Spiro’s latest single, “The Visitor,” the namesake of her ongoing tour, will be released Friday. Ahead of the release, Spiro spoke with Hollywood Reporter About singing with Sam Smith, the sad ending of friendships, and how the desire for more human connection is leading to the resurgence of jazz and soul in pop music.
I just played “Die on This Hill” with Sam Smith in San Francisco, which is a wild city. Tell me about it.
I wish I was more clear, because something like this is unbelievable. I’ve talked about this before, but I got to sing with Sam at their residence in New York when she opened. We sang “Lay Me Down,” and that was the best moment of my life.
And then to be asked to sing my own song with one of my favorite artists is an indescribable feeling. To be honest, I wouldn’t have written that song without Sam’s music. So it was just crazy. I’m still overwhelmed by what happened. I feel like I’m too late to react like this.
You almost can’t hide your influences; They practically take you out. Adele, Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone. Where did these people come from?
This is the song my dad used to play at home, so I grew up listening to it. I grew up learning from all these legends, and I would try to imitate the way they sang. I listened to Frank Sinatra all the time, and Nina and Aretha and Ella Fitzgerald. I used to try to imitate him.
It’s really the best, but it’s my favorite. It’s my favorite music in the world, jazz and soul, and I think it’s the most real, the most human, the most relatable.
It is not easy for this type of music to become so popular in today’s pop world. Sometimes it happens that Amy did that, and Adele did that. But it was more lethargic. The emergence of artists like you and Olivia Deen means it could make a comeback. Why do you think this is now?
I think people yearn for humanity. Sorry, I know there’s a word, but I don’t know how else to say it. People really want real things. I think that in a world where everything is digital and online most of the time, people crave human interaction and connection, things you can hold and things you can see and feel.
Jazz and soul music are very human. Everything is alive.
Do you remember the first song you fell in love with?
It must have been a nursery rhyme or something. I’ve been singing all my life. I don’t remember the first song, but I remember getting one of those little square iPods when I was very young. My cousin downloaded four songs for me: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Someone Like You,” a Beatles song, and a Sinatra song. I used to randomly shuffle those songs every day.
Was there a moment when you realized you had a unique enough voice to do this. Is that path as a singer something you can consider?
I had no other plan. I was like, “Okay, I’ll do this.” I’m so delusional. If you listen to my music, you’ll pick it up right away. It only occurred to me a few months ago that it wasn’t 100 percent possible for it to be done this way. I am very grateful for that.
I’ve used the metaphor about clipping wings in many songs, like “Butterfly Effect” and “Back to Blonde.” Why is this phrase drawn to her? Was that intentional or did it just happen?
It wasn’t premeditated. I think I’m quite a visual writer. “Butterfly Effect” is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. I sketched out on paper first, like a series of events that happened and the theme of the song. I think it’s a really powerful image, and I love when you can see things, and when it doesn’t tell you exactly what happened. I don’t have any wings to be clipped. But I think it’s a beautiful image of restricting someone or preventing them from doing what they really should be doing.
In the song “You Stole The Show,” there’s this line where she sings, “I ask you if you love me and you just shrug your shoulders.” Is this symbolic or something that actually happened to you?
No, I would die if that happened to me. Well…it kind of happened. But this song was all from my imagination. I went on my first ever mini tour of the UK and had a deep fear every night that my ex was in the audience.
It’s called “I Stole the Show” because these shows are the only moments where I truly feel like they’re mine and I’m present and I can be myself. And there was this fear of him being there that kept taking that away from me, I kept thinking about him and what I wanted and if he was there.
Was this person an inspiration for your writing on these new tracks you’re making?
Not anymore, thank God. You’re done now. But the reason I think about it so much is because I try to go back to who I wrote these songs about and what I feel the most emotion when I sing them. Sometimes it just stirs things up.
You said that night during your show that you’re heartbroken more by friends than by romantic partners. I don’t see that feeling in music very often. It’s refreshing.
It’s a much more heartbreaking end to a friendship, because you don’t think it ever will. When you get into a romantic situation, you kind of expect it to end, or realize that it may or may not end. When you get into a friendship, you never think that one day this might end. I think that’s why it’s so miserable and debilitating to lose a friend.
As your fame increases day by day and everyone starts asking more from you, I’m sure friendships can become difficult as well.
I’ve always struggled with friendship my whole life, since I was 10 years old. But I have amazing people around me, whether it’s my sisters and brother or my best friends. I’ve made a lot of friendships with the people I work with. I have a lot of people around me.
How do you feel about your rise? It’s exciting but I’m also sure there’s a lot of pressure when millions of people, as well as the music industry, are watching so closely.
I’m just insanely grateful for that. I hope I use it the right way, and I hope I don’t let people down. It’s really weird to have so many eyes on you, and especially being young, people want answers from you. And I don’t have any answers. I’m finding out for myself.
What questions are you asking yourself or things are you focusing on lately during all of this?
I think you can’t be a great artist if you’re not good at being a human being first. I just make sure that I’m good at being a human being on top of everything else, and I just make sure that I do things for the right reason and not for the sake of it.
How do you define being a good human being?
By the way, this doesn’t just mean being nice. I just mean that you have to be good at communicating, level up, and understanding people’s feelings. I know I said it before, but the humanity of it all and being present and understanding the way things work and people work. I don’t think you can be a great artist without first being a good human being.
“The Visitor” comes out this week. I heard it at your show and it’s another beautiful and heartbreaking song. I was struck by the phrase being a visitor in someone’s arms. Where did the inspiration come from?
I wrote that song nine times because I was sitting with a friend about two years ago, and she mentioned this art gallery called The Visitor. For some reason, this title stuck with me. I was thinking why, and it’s only because I felt like a visitor all my life. I’ve always felt temporary. I’ve always been aware that things are temporary.
Always fighting for a place or showing my visual self is not enough. That’s why I mentioned the heartbreak of friendship; It was too much. It’s a real thing too, and it’s very specific, knowing that you’re temporary to someone. I’m afraid of impermanence. It’s something I really care about expressing properly.
Does it take any level of adjustment knowing that your songs are going to be scrutinized by more and more people? Are you comfortable giving it all or do you think you need to keep some things to yourself?
I’m a bit relieved to be honest. I think I have it all set. Sometimes I have to catch myself.
I know you’ve talked about playing the Royal Albert Hall as one of your main goals. As you continue to climb, what are your other goals in the coming months and years?
As I said, the Royal Albert Hall is a big hall. I want to be a better songwriter, a better musician, learn more about music and push myself. You can never win music or complete music, you can always get better and you can always learn more. I have a lot to learn. I’m in – what do you guys call it – kindergarten, elementary music school now. I’m very excited to learn more and make better things.
When you think about the Albert Hall, how are you going to put on a show that’s more grand, or a bigger stage, or something that much larger, what does that look like to you?
I’ll tell you: Two albums out, I hope it’s a James Bond song, an orchestra and I’m wearing a nice dress. This is what I would like it to look like.
