Loretta Heywood

Biography

Loretta Heywood is a soulful songstress, best known for her ethereal vocals with 90’s electronic band Bomb The Bass. In 1991, after 9 years in Japan where Loretta recorded ‘Tribe of Love’ & ‘Touch Me Take Me’ for Tosh & Kudo (Love TKO / Major Force), Tim Simenon heard her recordings and asked her to sing on the next Bomb The Bass album. The result was the hauntingly beautiful Winter In July, co-written by Tim, Loretta and Guy Sigsworth. It subsequently became a major hit in Europe, featuring on countless Chill Out compilations, and earned its place in dance music history as one of the classic records of that time. Following her success with Bomb The Bass, Loretta went on to work with various critically acclaimed writers and producers including Guy Sigsworth and David Arnold.

As club culture gave way to the indie scene at the turn of the decade, Loretta took a short break from music and London, before returning to the studio with a whole new perspective, to write and record acoustic sounds and urban beats with Bugz In The Attic, Waiwan and Victor Davies. In 2003 she also turned her hand to a new venture and studied Ayurveda, massage therapy and healing. This became her music for the years to follow, giving her a deeply spiritual connection and another creative outlet for the pathway of her life.

Recording vocals over the years for a variety of producers, Loretta felt the coherent thread joining them together was lacking and it was with this inspiration that she set about recording her own debut album. Embarking on this labour of love, it was time for her to bring a mix of ingredients together and create the perfect musical chocolate cake. With Andy Mitchell blending the mixture together they created a romantic, acoustic album with a contemporary twist that included elements of jazz, folk and dance. The album The Boy Across The Road was written and recorded in Ladbroke Grove and at Faraway Sounds in West London with Will Worsley putting the final tips of icing on this musical cake.

The Boy Across The Road is a pure and simple collection of songs and has been the seed for many projects to follow. The album was lyrically borne out of Loretta’s own life experiences of ups, downs and spiritual growth and is a tribute to her neighbour and musical support on the album Andy Mitchell, who is the real life boy across the road.