Some albums mark a new chapter. Others feel like a homecoming. For Leigh-Anne, My Ego Told Me To is both.
Photographer: Alex Evans
More than four years in the making, the debut album arrives not only as her most personal body of work to date, but as the sound of an artist stepping fully into herself. Free from outside expectations and newly independent, Leigh-Anne built a record rooted in the music that raised her—lovers rock, reggae, R&B and pop—while allowing herself the freedom to tell stories with a vulnerability and confidence that feel entirely her own. Every song, visual, and creative decision contributes to a world that celebrates identity, heritage, healing and the power of reclaiming your voice.
The album's release was met with both commercial success and critical praise, debuting in the Top 3 of the U.K. Official Albums Chart before Leigh-Anne took the project on the road for a triumphant headline tour. But beneath the milestones lies a much more personal victory. Throughout My Ego Told Me To, she confronts old wounds, embraces the boldness she admits had been buried for years, and reintroduces herself—not just to listeners, but to herself. It's an album born from trusting instincts, honoring her roots, and finally giving herself permission to take up space.
When LISTEN caught up with Leigh-Anne following the whirlwind of the album release and tour, the singer reflected on the long road to making My Ego Told Me To, the creative freedom that came with going independent, the Caribbean influences woven throughout the record, and why reconnecting with her ego ultimately became an act of self-discovery rather than self-indulgence.
LISTEN: I want to start off the interview by congratulating you on the success of your album.
Leigh-Anne: Thank you so much.
LISTEN: How are you feeling about it now, now that it's been like a couple months out since the release?
Leigh-Anne: I feel like it's always that kind of everything happens at once, and there's like this hype moment, and I got my number three, I got my number one, and it's like, "Ah!"
And all of a sudden it's like, "Oh, it's out now." That kind of like weird come-down feeling. But I think because I had the tour, I was working towards that, so I had something else to obviously look forward to. And the tour was just so much fun; it was such a success. So yeah. Now I'm kind of on my semi-come down from that.
LISTEN: No, I mean, for sure, which is why the vacation is probably very needed.
Leigh-Anne: Mm-hmm. 100%
LISTEN: Do you remember where you were when it [the album] debuted in the top three?
Leigh-Anne: Yeah. So I was on my little tour cause I was doing, like, acoustic sets to promote the album, and album signings. I was somewhere in the UK. I can't remember where I was. But I was sat in a restaurant with my sister and my security guy. And literally, like, we were all just looking at each other like, "What's it gonna be?" Like, we called Eloise from my label, and she said, "Number three."
And I was like... Literally, I think you could see- I don't know if you watched the video, but you could just see the shocked look on my face. I don't know why. Like, I knew it deserved that; I knew it deserved to be that, but I think because we'd just put so much work into getting to that point, and because it took so long to get there as well- I've been working on this album for like four years, so long.
And yeah, I think it was just such an important, amazing moment to kind of get that recognition and get that number, and it felt like a lot of the hard work had paid off.
LISTEN: Absolutely. And that kinda leads into my next question, as to when you started it four years ago, when did that process begin to sort of take shape as the actual album where you narrowed it down to choosing the songs and kind of keeping it within, like, this cohesive creative theme?
Leigh-Anne: So when I first started, I knew that I wanted to have an album that was influenced by all the different sounds that I loved growing up. Like lovers rock, reggae, R&B, and also pop because I'm a pop girl.
And how can I incorporate all these genres and make something very unique to me? Like, that was always something that I set out to do. But I think it wasn't really until I went independent where that took shape more.
I think not having someone control me or not having someone micromanage, like, "No, it should sound more like this," or "It should be more like this." Like, that's not where I'm at right now. I've been in this industry for so many years, and it's like I can't do an album if it's not solely from me.
Like, it's just not gonna work for me. I think it really took shape when I took that plunge to go independent, and I remember going into the studio maybe a year ago with Coffee and Owen, and wrote “Dead & Gone,” “Look Into My Eyes,” “Revival,” and, like, these tracks that just- like I never felt like that way in the studio.
I really felt like I'd found my sonic — they just had a different attitude to them. I don't know, it just felt really like the most unique something's ever sounded for me. So I got really excited, and then I think that kinda laid the foundation for the album, and everything else kinda fell into place there.
LISTEN: And when it came to the Caribbean influence, that's like across the album from “Dead & Gone” and the other songs as well. Was that a natural reflection of your roots, or was that a direction that you wanted to go into, predetermined into this era?
Leigh-Anne: I mean, I grew up on lovers rock. I would go to Jamaica every year since I was born, literally. Like my granddad's Jamaican. We'd go all the time, and I remember my cousin used to burn me these CDs, and it would have like these lovers rock mixes, and I must have been like 12 and just literally banging these out.
And so I feel like it's always kinda had a special place in my heart, like lovers rock reggae. I think it was definitely a conscious decision to want to do music that is definitely influenced by my roots and where I'm from, and it just feels super authentic and unique and just music that I love.
So yeah, I definitely think it was always a conscious decision for sure.
LISTEN: I love that, and you can even see it in some of the visuals as well. It's not just sonically. It bleeds into the whole world of the album.
Leigh-Anne: Yes, for sure.
LISTEN: What was the music that filled your environment growing up? And do you hear traces of that in your project now?
Leigh-Anne: So definitely lovers rock. R&B, 'cause I have two older sisters. So I mean, my eldest was listening to like jungle and garage, which I wasn't into as much, but funky house. I don't know if you know that might’ve been like a UK thing.
LISTEN: Yeah, I think so.
Leigh-Anne: But then, like, but then my middle sister, Sarah, was literally listening to B2K, Jagged Edge, and Brandy. So that is kind of where my love for music started. It was really there. TLC. There was another album that I remembered the other day, and I was like, "Why do I always forget to talk about this?"
Do you remember when P!nk put out her first album?
LISTEN: Yeah.
Leigh-Anne: Do you know what it was called?
LISTEN: I forgot what it was called. But it was, like, right before “Just Like a Pill,” right?
Leigh-Anne: I think it's Can't Take Me Home.
LISTEN: Okay. I remember!
Leigh-Anne: I think it was called that, yeah. And it had, um, “Most Girls,” “There You Go.” Oh my God! Like that album, her voice is just so suited to R&B, personally. But I know she didn't really wanna do R&B, but...wow. I just remember hammering that album out. So yeah, definitely R&B and pop as well. My mom was listening to Wheatus and Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette. So it was very mixed, I would say.
LISTEN: Yeah. I mean, for sure! I think that's kind of the same with me growing up. I remember the first CD I ever discovered on my own was, like, Alicia Keys's Diary.
Leigh-Anne: Oh, what an album ... I can't! Wow.
LISTEN: I wanted to pivot and talk about more of the vulnerable moments on this project. From, “Dead and Gone” and “The Best Version of Me.” When making sort of really vulnerable tracks like that, were you forced to confront anything about yourself, or does that vulnerability just come naturally?
Leigh-Anne: That's a very good question. I do feel like it does force you to confront, for sure.
Like, “Best Version of Me” is super personal. I felt really vulnerable writing that. Even when I perform that—I think what I love about that song so much is the fact that my fans resonate so much with it. And one of my friends actually messaged me the other day and he was like, "Thank you for writing ‘Best Version of Me’. It's picked me up off the floor."
And I was like, "Oh my God." Like, I think when you hear things like that about your music, it's just the best feeling. It's like, this is what it's for, you know? To help people and to touch people. But I definitely feel like I wear my heart on my sleeve.
I think I am quite a vulnerable person. I talk about my feelings a lot. So for me it is quite, not easy, but like natural to walk into a studio and just write whatever's on my heart and be really open. But at the same time, like facing demons and talking about things and, like, trauma that is still there that you haven't really dealt with yet, like that I think is quite an intense thing.
As much as I am open, there are still, I guess, things that I do struggle with, for sure.
LISTEN: And then to be on theme with the album—how has your relationship with your ego evolved as your career has grown?
Leigh-Anne: Well, I would say I kind of pushed her down for many years. I just feel like this industry can do that. It can make you feel like you can't be as outspoken or you can't be as loud in rooms or take up space. Especially as a black woman in the pop world, it can be hard.
I think my experience in Little Mix being in a group, I think that kind of played into me maybe shying away from myself a little bit and really not showing my full self, who I really am. I feel like the last year making this album, speaking about this ego, knowing that I have to bring her back out and, it's like the more I talk about it, it's like the more that fire is burning.
You know when you talk things into existence?
LISTEN: Yeah.
Leigh-Anne: Like, she [ego] is literally- I can feel her taking over. I can feel her more than ever. So yeah, it's definitely working. I feel like putting this album out-obviously it's for my fans, and seeing them resonate with it is incredible-but a lot of this is actually therapy for me.
LISTEN: So you feel that the ego coming more to the surface is a good thing?
Leigh-Anne: 100%. It's like it's helped my confidence more than anything.
She, my ego, is my younger self, and she is the fierce one. Like, she's bold. She wouldn't be afraid to speak her mind. I just remember that. That's who I was when I was younger. I just had so much fire about me. And yeah, over the years, that kind of did trickle away a bit.
So I think I can definitely feel that kind of coming back out, and yeah, it's like remembering who I almost was.
LISTEN: And when it came to choosing the title, how did you come across My Ego Told Me To?
Leigh-Anne: I wanted something unexpected. So I think that's why I went with the album cover as well; my ego, she doesn't really give a fuck. She does what she wants, and she has so much belief in herself; she takes the lead. So I really wanted to kind of represent and show that boldness coming through. And she's told me to go independent; she told me to make an album that I'm truly proud of, and that is just exactly what I love. So I just thought it was really cunning, like my ego told me to.
LISTEN: I agree. I can see that. And when it came to the color scheme of the album, I find it really interesting that it's like this really bold and bright green. When you think of your ego, is that kind of the color you think of, or the aura that it kind of exudes from you?
Leigh-Anne: So she, the ego, is red. So that's why I've dyed my hair back red. She's obviously representing the fire, and then the other side to me, she is green. She's the more vulnerable side, like the more people-pleaser side. But I think it's like one of those where what I've learnt is actually I need both sides.
Like, I need both of these versions to kind of make me, me. And I think that's why I wanted to sort of show the red and the green and show these colors coming together and build this world out. I've got a green tongue, which is kinda crazy, and this sort of red, bob haircut.
LISTEN: And to close out the interview, I wanna ask this last question. Who are you currently listening to right now?
Leigh-Anne: I am in my R&B bag. I am listening to Kehlani. She's just insane. JayDon because when I listen to him, like, it just takes me back to 2000s R&B. That is the best for me, like late '90s, early 2000s. Josh Levi, loving at the minute.