The whole world wants a piece of Harry Styles. Industry executives want to lure him away from his current label, Columbia; journalists desperately want to interview him; girls and boys from Manchester to Sydney dream of dating him.
Dylan, the 23-year-old pop singer who has been touted as one of Britain’s most exciting rising stars, is apparently no different. Last night in London, she had the sold-out crowd at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire eating out of her hand with a double homage to the former One Direction star: a cover of his 2017 glam-rock fuelled single Kiwi, followed by her own viral hit You’re Not Harry Styles, a charged personal promise not to let ex-boyfriends get you down – unless they were in a boy-band, that is.
Born in Suffolk, Dylan (real name Natasha Woods) has had a good year. She spent last summer supporting Ed Sheeran on his mammoth global stadium tour, played her own sold-out shows on both sides of the Atlantic, and was nominated for BBC Radio 1’s prestigious Sound of 2023. She has also developed the kind of fervently loyal fanbase that usually materialises after years of touring and releasing albums – testament to the relatability of anthemic girl-power tracks such as Nothing Lasts Forever, and especially impressive considering she’s yet to release a full length album.
Dressed in a gothic all-black, buckle-covered leather outfit straight out of The Craft, clutching a flame-emblazoned electric guitar, she packs a commanding figure on stage for a new performer. The majority of songs are up-tempo (anti-) love songs that borrow heavily from female-fronted bands such as Paramore and Hole, although there’s respite from the angst on Home Is Where the Heart Is, a tender eulogy to her late mother, made even more potent by the presence of her father in the audience – who later received a raucous rendition of Happy Birthday as a west London gift.
Pop music has changed since the early- to mid-2000s, when commercial female singers were rewarded for being coy and unapologetically lovelorn. Today, the easiest way to guarantee attention from a major record label is making pop-punk infected songs with lyrics based around break-ups, choosing platonic friendships over first loves and sexual independence – songs essentially created to become hit sounds on TikTok. Dylan slots a little too easily into this trend, along with contemporaries including Maisie Peters, Olivia Rodrigo and Caity Baser. But she still manages to sound fresh, and her vivacity atop the stage – adorned with flashing scarlet hearts – sets her apart as a rising British talent who is truly one to watch.
No further UK dates, now touring abroad. Tickets: iamdylanofficial.com
