Lab78 signs Ivy Rose for debut single

Lab78 - the label launched by PNAU's Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes in 2019 - has signed American act, Ivy Rose.

Rose's debut single 'I've Been Watching You' was co-written by Littlemore and Donnie Sloan, who co-wrote Empire of the Sun's 'Walking On A Dream'.

Littlemore discovered the Houston-based artist when his wife, Gigi Rose Gray, was clicking about on YouTube. With covers online of the likes of Joan Jett, Mazy Star, and Lana Del Ray, Littlemore said Rose "emanated an angelic quality". He was, he added, "struck by her melancholy and the deep loneliness in her eyes".

In 2017, Littlemore and Gray went to Houston to meet the artist, and within a week they had recorded an hour of original music.

Since then, the label said Rose had been through some "dramatic life events", but she has now transformed into the "artist they'd envisaged".

"There's something universal about the way Ivy sings, the way she connects. She is a story in herself," Littlemore explained of the signing.

The single was released today via Lab78, and Rose said she wants people to feel inspired and motivated, but also the real pain and feeling behind her voice.

Littlemore and Mayes drive Lab78's A&R and creative, and have teamed up with independent label etcetc to look after label services.