Twenty-four-year-old Annabel Curphey has been honing her craft as a musician from a young age.

Educated on the Isle of Man before spending several years in Brighton, where she continued to develop her musical talents, music has always been at the heart of Annabel’s identity.

In 2024, the singer-songwriter released her debut single, Cauliflower Cheese, marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter in her career.

Now performing under the stage name Annabel Lauren, she is preparing to release her debut album on Friday, June 6 - a project that has been six years in the making.

Described by Annabel as an indie-pop record, the album represents years of dedication, creativity and personal growth.

She said: ‘I started writing all the songs for this album before I left for university in 2019, so it’s been a work in progress for more than six years now. It’s been a long process of multiple rewrites, countless recordings, promo shoots and getting myself mentally ready to release it, but I’m finally happy with how it sounds and looks and I just can’t wait for everyone to listen.’

The album, titled Velux, features nine tracks.

Four of the songs are completely new, while the remaining five have been released previously but have now been remastered by her producer and, in her words, sound even better than before.

Annabel said: ‘It’s both so scary and so exciting. You never know what people are going to think until it’s out there, so it can be quite daunting, especially when you’ve worked on a project for so long. But I’m happy with it and that’s the main thing.’

The themes running throughout Velux focus on moving away from home and the emotions that come with it. Annabel recalled feeling relieved to be living independently at university while also missing the comforts of home.

There is also a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.

‘My co-producer Scott Rowe has been fantastic throughout this whole process. He’s spent countless hours editing every little detail of the tracks and making sure I was 100% happy with them, even when he thought they were fine five edits ago.

‘I also found some brilliant musicians while I lived in Brighton - bassist Remi David and guitarist Jo McKenna Jones - who have recorded on most of the tracks. They are incredibly talented and deserve all the recognition they get.

‘My photographers and videographers, Shaun Jones and Taylor Niamh, have also been fantastic. It’s tough at times being an independent artist because you have to be your own writer, promoter and manager, so when you have skilled friends, you make the most of it. These guys have done a great job too.’

One of Annabel’s favourite parts of the process was collaborating with other musicians, with their input helping her gain a fresh perspective on the songs.

Annabel said: ‘It’s called Velux because I wrote most of the songs sitting beneath the Velux window in my childhood bedroom. It felt appropriate because the album is all about me moving away from that same house.’

Velux can now be pre-saved across most streaming platforms ahead of its release this Friday.