Gabrielle Aplin reacts to chart success

Gabrielle Aplin has spoken about the success of her debut album English Rain, which charted at number two in this week's UK's Official Album Chart.

The singer from Chippenham has been releasing videos in her bedroom on YouTube for several years.

But this weekend, her debut competed with the likes of Vampire Weekend and Rod Stewart for the number one spot.

"It's really weird, it's been overwhelming," she said. "This [last] week has just been mental."

Aplin's covers of artists including Katy Perry, Cee Lo Green, The Naked & Famous and Coldplay have been seen hundreds of thousands of times online and helped her a generate a solid fan base.

'Nothing changed'

She said: "I don't really know how to handle the attention, but I don't feel like I'm getting any attention [either] because you just bypass it.

"The weirdest thing for me was going into HMV and buying my album. That was strange. But in terms of how I live my life and what I do nothing has changed."

English Rain was released the same week as Vampire Weekend's Modern Vampires Of The City and an album by Rod Stewart - although Aplin admits she isn't too familiar with the veteran rocker.

"I don't know much about him, he's obviously from a different generation," she said. "But I know he's a legend, so you can't compete with Rod Stewart."

Future plans

Gabrielle released an EP, Home, in January sparking a bidding war with several labels. In the end she signed with Parlophone.

Aplin said her biggest influences were singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, but she also enjoyed newer bands like Coldplay and The National. Now the album is released, dates at some of the major festivals will follow.

"I'm doing a tour of Europe first then all the festivals," she said. "Then when we get into the autumn it's just my tour."

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