Freya Doyenne is a new singer-songwriter hailing from Wolverhampton. Her ethereal, dreamy pop has drawn comparisons to Cocteau Twins, and her debut EP was released in July 2024. I sat down with Freya to ask her a few questions for God Is In The TV.
How did you get started? Have you always been musical?
I’ve always loved writing – when I was younger I used to write poems, and as I got older I wrote lyrics. I never really saw myself as a singer to be honest, but I’ve always loved songwriting. When I was 17 my brother learned how produce using Ableton which he taught me to use, so I could put an instrumental to my lyrics.
I grew up with music in my family, and my Dad used to show me music videos from the 80s and 90s when I was a kid! I learned to play the piano, which I use to write my songs.
Who are your biggest influences?
I’m definitely inspired by the 80s gothic and new wave genres, as I listen to it a lot. But the band that really influences me the most is Depeche Mode – they’re my favourite band, I love the dark sexiness of their music. I definitely try and emulate that with my own music. Martin Gore is the best songwriter ever in my opinion, I’d love to be as good a songwriter as him! I’ve definitely picked up on his style a bit.
Recently though, I’ve been listening to a lot of 60s rock music. I love the Doors, so I’ve been wanting to explore that sort of sound a little bit more in my future music.
Tell me about your EP: are the four songs connected thematically?
I would love to say that I picked a theme from the beginning really, but I only really realised the theme after I had put it together. When I released ‘Groupie‘ in February of last year I still hadn’t written Sun-Kissed Golden Wonderland and Eros so there wasn’t the intention of being an EP. I noticed that all of the single covers had flowers on the cover, so I wanted there to be a flower theme for the EP title, hence ‘Rose Tinted’. Which I thing is perfect, as everything in my lyrics is written through rose tinted glasses. So they are connected massively but that wasn’t necessarily the intention from the get go.
How do you work when you compose your music?
Nearly always lyrics first. Usually I’ll have an idea for a song and then I’ll write the lyrics. For Groupie I had the song title for a while, I knew that I wanted to write a song about being a groupie. I don’t do a lot of editing, I usually just keep it the same as I originally wrote it. The lyrics usually come quite easily for me. I’ll then go to the piano and come up with the chords and the melody, then I’ll do the production part and add the instruments on Ableton.
Which song are you most proud of writing?
Well in terms of the lyrics I think I’m most emotionally connected to ‘I Feel Your Devotion‘, I feel the lyrics are powerful for me. And wrote it at 17, and I think it’s a good achievement to have written it so young, so I’m really proud of it.
I’m also really proud of Eros. I think the goal of every artist is to write songs that they would want to listen to themselves, and Eros is definitely that song for me. But every song I’ve released I’m proud of, each time I release something I’m proud that I have done everything – the writing, the production, the mixing – all by myself.
What music are you enjoying in 2025?
I’m very much a 2025 girl living in 1985! I do listen to a lot of 80s music. My favourite singer is Billy Idol, and he has a new album coming out soon so I’m very much forward to that. I have a vinyl player, and one album I listen to all the time is his Charmed Life from 1990, I love listening to it from start to finish all the time, I really love that album. I listen to a wide range of music. I do listen to some modern stuff as well, but I’m a bit stuck in the past!
What is next for Freya Doyenne? Another EP?
Good question! Promotion is something I’m really focused on. I think in today’s music industry for new artists, you don’t need to be releasing stuff all the time, but promotion is really important. I’m keen to promote the songs I have, especially as I haven’t got that big of an audience yet. But I am obviously interested in making some new music too, and am especially interested in doing some covers.
I’d really would love to have my own band to play my songs, so that’s something I would look for in the future too.
Listen to Freya Doyenne on Spotify and Youtube.
