Latitude Festival: Singer Eden Lole 'over the moon' to be playing

Eden Lole, who grew up in Abington, Northampton, has won a slot on the BBC Introducing stage at the Latitude Festival

A woman who decided to pursue a music career after injury forced her to give up horse riding says she is "over the moon" to be playing at Latitude Festival.

Eden Lole, 25, from Northampton, wanted to be a competitive horse rider until a condition she was born with meant that by 18 she was unable to sit down.

The singer has been picked to play on the BBC Introducing stage.

"I was so shocked to get this and absolutely over the moon," she said.

Ms Lole said she was born with a "bad coccyx" which gradually got worse.

"It was apparently always going to happen, but it meant that I couldn't sit down for about a year," she said. "I stood up for the whole of my A levels and I had to stand up in all my classes.

"I'd gone from riding horses several times a week to not being able to ride them at all."

Eden Lole wanted to be a competitive horse rider and said showjumping was "such an adrenaline rush"

When she realised she could no longer sit on a horse, she turned to her other love, music.

"I've always been so obsessed with music, that the only other thing that even came close to holding my attention was horses," she said.

"It was like, 'OK, I guess that's the universe's way of telling me music is what I'm supposed to do', so I ended up where I think I always belonged."

Ms Lole headed to the British Institute of Modern Music (BIMM) in London, where she graduated with a first-class honours degree in Popular Music Performance.

After treatment she "learnt to manage" her injury, and now combines vocal coaching with fronting and directing the band Sofar Sounds and her solo music.

She describes her music as a "hybrid between pop/alternative RnB/soul" with a "cheeky and playful" writing style.

But she said it was during the Covid lockdowns that she "really found my sound".

Ms Lole now "manages" the condition that forced her to give up horse riding

Relocating from London to her parents' home in Little Houghton in March 2020 with her producer Craig Sellar, the pair had time to create.

"All my gigs had gone, everything had gone and it was hard to stay motivated so being there was a god send," she said. "I don't know what I would have done otherwise.

"Unlike a lot of artists who were forced to stop creating, I was gifted endless amounts of time working on my music."

She started releasing it last August and said she "screamed" when she found out that she would feature at Latitude, which takes place at Henham Park, near Southwold in Suffolk, from 21 to 24 July.

"I thought it was going to take much longer to even do a small festival let alone something like Latitude," she said.

"I knew there was a chance I could get a festival with BBC Introducing but I was so shocked to get this and absolutely over the moon."

She said she hoped it would help her and the right manager "find each other".

"I'm at a point where I want to start building my team around me so hopefully Latitude will be the start of that," she said.

BBC Music Introducing in Northampton is broadcast Saturday nights from 20:00.