Duran Duran and Rihanna have exactly one thing in common, and her name is Kiesza. Thirty minutes before 26-year-old Canadian-born Kiesza is set to perform at week one of Coachellaโher first time at the festivalโthe media tent isย hot as shit, baking in the afternoon sun, and theย deep-house sensation is coolly recounting her mergerย with the Second British Invasion: โSimon Le Bon, the lead singer of Duran Duran, wasย running on a treadmill at the gym,โ she says. โHe saw โHideawayโ [Kieszaโs monsterย 2014 song] and was like, โOh! I like her voice! I wonder if sheโll want to be on my nextย album?โโ Game recognizing game. โThey kind of made the '80s what the '80s were,โ sheย says, chuckling.
What Duran Duran did for the '80s, Rihanna has done for the aughts, and Kieszaโs got herย hands in that pie too. Any second, in this balmy encampment filled with music journalistsย hammering on their Macbooks, Kiesza could get the call that the songs sheโs written forย Rihanna will appear on the pop divaโs newest record. โTheyโll say, โOh, itโs on!โโ sheย tells me. โIn the writing world, things change so rapidly that itโs not actually on until itโsย printed, you know?โ I wish I did. Kieszaโs writing credits include J. Loโs song โFeel Theย Lightโ and others for the likes of Kylie Minogue and Icona Pop. She penned the songย โCannonballโ on the Home soundtrack for somebody else, but, smartly, the powers thatย be had Kiesza sing it instead.
Like Sia, Frank Ocean, and even Lady Gagaย before her, the artistโs transition fromย powerhouse songwriter to performer occurred because some tracks are just too good toย hand over. โI was writing for other people mainly, so most of my songs I was givingย away, and I couldnโt give away 'Hideaway,' she says. โHideawayโ to date has over 220 million views on YouTube and debuted at No. 1 on the British Singles Chart. The trackย may be the big single on 2014โs Sound of a Woman, but is by no means the only banger.ย In fact, Sound of a Woman Remixes EP was just released this month, and Kiesza is takingย her show on the road, headlining a US tour, supported by Nylon fave Betty Who.
Experiencing the back end of the hit-making process, Kiesza is now in the rare position toย properly vet her own producers, select the best accompanying musicians, and hone herย high-energy onstage performancesโas demonstratedย with her massive video with electro super-group Jack ร (Diplo and Skrillex). She is a prime example of how a new pop model,ย when put into proper action, will cause a ruckus.ย After our conversation, wearing a Wonder Woman onesie adorned with New Yorkย Yankees insignias, she heads onstage to show an eager squad of festivalgoers why it wasย high time she break out on her own. And if youโre lucky to have tickets to week two ofย Coachella, do yourself a favor and get sweaty with Kiesza.