Islands hold a special place for Gabriela Richardson. The 31-year-old Afro-Spanish musician, whose debut album Isola was released at the end of last week, was born to a Catalan mother and African American father, both artists who met in Ibiza, the island her father migrated to in the 70s. Though Richardson was raised in Barcelona, the mystique of island life has always stayed with her. “I feel that when you are made on an island, or you are part of an island, your character is a bit different from a city,” she told Dazed before the album’s release. “You are surrounded by water; it’s this isolated space, but at the same time, one with a lot of personality.” 

While Isola marks Richardson’s first major project, the artist has been releasing work for over a decade and making music for even longer. As a child, Richardson had a stutter, making it difficult for her to speak with ease. Singing, however, came much easier to her, providing a new way to communicate her emotions. At 19, Richardson was still living in Barcelona, where she began making music with friends, at first just for fun. But when a song she wrote landed in a commercial, Richardson found herself signing with a label, a hasty decision that ultimately proved to be an important learning lesson. “I didn’t understand what I wanted to express at that moment, because I was so young and suddenly dragged into a contract with people expecting things,” she says. “I had to stop that and say, ‘Look, I need to really find my sound, find what I really want to say.’” 

That sound comes through crystal clear on Isola, an ambitious, layered 14-track record on which Richardson sings in Italian, French and Spanish. The album’s composition takes inspiration from Iberian folk music, and the music of 1970s Brazil, namely the work of legends like Arthur Verocai and Gal Costa. Though Richardson began working on the project in her home country of Spain, she completed it in her new home in New York City, a sprawling, albeit grittier, island of its own. While the album’s title is unsurprisingly tied to her parents’ island roots, it’s also a nod to the feelings of seclusion Richardson associates with creating art. “After doing the album, I felt that isolation was a big part of the creative process; you are at your house, you are alone, and you are really looking [inwards] at what is making you feel the emotion that you want to express,” she says. “It's like you’re on an island, and the water just keeps moving. It shapes the emotions in a way that is changing all the time.”

With her debut album now out into the world, it’s safe to assume that even more change is on the horizon for Richardson. Ahead of Isola’s release, we asked the artist to share her online favourites.

FAVOURITE WEBSITE: RADIO RELATIVA

Gabriela Richardson: I can tell you a radio: Radio Relativa. It’s a radio that has a lot of flamenco mixed with jazz and poetry. It’s nice to see young people engaging with this genre and trying to create interest for young people. You can just search “Radio Relative” and search the episodes. It’s beautiful.

FAVOURITE FILM TO STREAM: BURNING

Gabriela Richardson: I really like Burning by Lee Chang-dong. It’s a very feminine movie in the sense that it is not so direct and clear; it explores more of what we don’t say. Then there is this French director called Maïwenn. She has a film called Polisse that is super well done. And I also like Incendies by Denis Villeneuve.

FAVOURITE SOFTWARE: LOGIC PRO

Gabriela Richardson: I like to add a lot of layers in my voice, just to have different textures, because when you sing, maybe you don’t have as much high or as much low [notes]. So, if you add low, high and medium, it covers all the ranges. I think it’s very helpful for my type of voice. For that, I use Logic Pro. I feel that Apple makes things very beautiful and very easy to understand. So, if you come from GarageBand, for example, I just find that it’s more schematic.

FAVOURITE ONLINE STORE: GROTESQUE ARCHIVE

Gabriela Richardson: In New York, there is a shop called Grotesque Archive that I really like. Actually, what I’m wearing right now is from there. In Barcelona, there are these two girls who have a brand called Aurem Biaix. It’s very inspiring because they play a lot with forms, textures and designs from the past.