“It all started when I had the worst morning sickness of my pregnancy,” KAMILLE tells Apple Music, of the day that her debut album, K1, was conceived. “I was crying because I couldn’t deal with lying down in bed all day again, and my husband was like, ‘Why don’t you just go in the studio and see if it makes you feel better?’ I started making ‘Muscle Memory’ that day.” Gestating two new bundles of joy simultaneously is tiring work—KAMILLE gave birth to a son in April 2023, the lead single from K1 followed in May—but, she admits, working on the album “saved” her from the baby blues. “I’m a very active person, so I struggled being at home a lot, especially towards the later stages when my belly was huge. Doing this album helped me get through those moments.” As a songwriter, KAMILLE is one of the UK’s most reliable hitmakers, shaping the sound of UK pop music over the last decade and furnishing artists like Little Mix, Clean Bandit and David Guetta with hit singles. Her own career as an artist, however, has been a more difficult project to build momentum with. “There’s so many different label situations and decision-making mechanisms behind the scenes that audiences won’t always realise happen to artists. I’ve had to stop and start and stop and start,” says KAMILLE. She made the decision to strike out independently for the release of K1. “That’s the headline of the year for most artists: going independent, doing your own thing, being in creative control,” she says. “It’s been incredible for me. I’m not going to lie, I am so exhausted, but it’s worth it. I’m so proud.” Not only did she write and produce every single track on K1—from the glittering groove of “Don’t Waste My Time” to the classic, Mariah Carey-esque R&B slow jam “All My Love”—KAMILLE also tapped Manon Grandjean, one of a very small number of women working prolifically as an audio engineer, to mix and master the project. She’s long been an outspoken advocate for women in music, mentoring fresh talent and leading initiatives aimed at getting more women into the studio. So being able to point to her own work as evidence of what an all-female team can achieve—while heavily pregnant, moreover—is a real triumph. “The main reason I wanted to do it on my own is because I wanted people to go through the credits and see my name. Where it says ‘written by’ or ‘produced by’, it’s just ‘KAMILLE’,” she says. “I hope that can inspire even one girl out there to think they can do it as well. Because they can.” Here, KAMILLE goes into more detail about the album-making process, one track at a time. “Muscle Memory” (feat. Nile Rodgers) “This was the start of a new era for me, it definitely led the way musically. I literally used the template of this project in Logic to go back to the beat and start other ideas, and it taught me a lot about how I wanted to produce this album. I wanted to explore the music my parents played in my house all day long when I was growing up—music I love, like soul, Motown and funk. I didn’t want to stress out with loads of instruments. There’s like two drums in there, and maybe a couple of synths. It’s very sparse. Then Nile Rodgers got on it and he said, ‘I’m going to give you 100 stems of guitar.’ Trying to choose even one lick was a nightmare, because they were all so beautiful, but he knew exactly what he was doing because it sounds perfect.” “Options” (with Tamera and Bellah) “When I finished making ‘Options’ I felt like it needed a feature, so I didn’t do a second verse. I slid into both Tamera and Bellah’s DMs and I was like, ‘What do you think, do you want to be on it?’ and they both said yes. It really is that simple sometimes. They’re so fun and vibrant and they uplifted me so much when I was unsure about things. It was amazing having that female energy around in the studio. I’m always ready to talk about a wasteman, because I can access that emotion immediately, but even women in relationships tell me they can see themselves in this song. My friend said she listened to it when her boss was trying to play games with her. She was like, ‘I can work anywhere. Don’t play with me. Do you not realise who I am?’ I love that it gave her that energy! It’s an empowering song to remind you that you are that bitch.” “Don’t Waste My Time” “I experienced a lot of pain last year. I heard a lot of ‘no’s, had a load of doors slammed in my face, and then the same people who were telling me ‘no’ would reach out because they wanted things from me. I was definitely at a point where the emotion just came out when I was writing this song. With music, you have a right and a licence to say what you want to say, and I think artists should always speak the truth. If people get upset about it, it means they’ve done something, doesn’t it? That’s where that came from, but it translates very generally. We’ve all had our time wasted, we’ve all had people take the piss out of us. It’s just a massive middle finger to anyone in your life who does that.” “The Sun” “I wrote this song about being an expectant mother. The first time I played it to my husband, the baby started kicking. When I listen to the lyrics now, I can put myself back in that position. I remember every day looking in the mirror like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so big!’ You don’t think your belly can grow any bigger, but it does, and it’s a beautiful process to see. I just wanted to capture that and put it in a letter to my son, to tell him how proud I was of him already.” “Time to Kill” “This song is very special to me because it keeps the vibe and the energy going where I need it to, but I swear to God, it didn’t exist until a week before the album came out. Right at the end, I felt like I was missing something—I needed another upbeat moment, and I didn’t have it. I played a bit of ‘Time to Kill’ on Instagram and everyone said, ‘Finish it, finish it, finish it’, so I quickly finished it and put it out. I love being an independent artist now, because I can do stuff like that. I can react to what people are telling me.” “Fancy Wine (Interlude)” “I was literally too lazy to finish this song, and that’s why it’s an interlude. Everyone moans at me because it’s so short and I’m like, ‘I was tired that day!’ I actually remember reaching out for some features, but it doesn’t really feel like it needs one. It’s such a sensual bop, and it makes me feel like Christmas time. I just want to be by the fire, drinking some moscato and talking with bae, y’know?” “All My Love” “Producing a key change is so difficult, because you have to basically create two projects and then shift one up [a key]. But ‘All My Love’ shifts up and shifts back down. It’s not like a crazy, last-chorus, Boyzone moment. It goes up in the chorus and back down for the verse. It literally broke my laptop—I had to buy a new one, just for this song. So extra.” “Manifesting - Pt. 1” “I wrote ‘Manifesting’ on Halloween 2022. All these trick or treaters were coming to my door and interrupting me, and every time I’d walk to the door I’d have another idea and I’d quickly go back to the studio. It was a weird night, but I think it’s one of those songs that will mean so much to me always. I manifested this whole year. I said, ‘I’m having a healthy baby, I’m putting out the album, I’m going to get played on the radio. I’m going to have a massive show and I’m going to be a happy person’, and it’s all happened.”