Before The Buzz: Leah Cleaver
Before The Buzz is DMY's new series introducing you to some of the best new artists before they blow up.
Leah Cleaver doesn't make music that sits still. The East London artist describes her sound as "jump-scare music," songs that drop you into a whole new space without warning, that satisfying shock of realising there's no going back. It's a fitting description for an artist who refuses to stay in one lane, lacing together Little Simz, Talking Heads and Anderson .Paak into something unmistakably her own.
Having left neo-soul five-piece ZEBEDE in 2024 to go solo "without compromise," Leah has spent the time since carving out space to make music fully on her own terms, as a queer Black woman telling stories that are hers alone. Her new EP 'BABY DON'T MOVE!' is a love letter to the people and communities closest to her: tender, cinematic, joyful, and built on the kind of basslines that make you move.
Ahead of its release, we caught up with Leah about going solo, honouring the roots of dance music, and finding joy in the chaos.
"Jump-scare music" is such a brilliant way to describe a sound. Where did that phrase come from, and what does a perfect "jump-scare" moment in one of your songs feel like to you?
The phrase came out of me wanting lots of interesting switch ups in my songs, and instead of making elaborate doorways I just wanted the feeling of scares and dramatic musical changes to happen quickly. It makes you feel the music so differently. Jump-scare is the feeling of being in a whole new space within a song and it feeling like the most shocking, satisfying thing ever. I definitely feel that in the pre-chorus of 'UMA' when the synth bass creeps in and you realise you've entered a whole different space now, and there's no going back.
Your influences span Little Simz, Talking Heads and Anderson .Paak, which is quite a range. How do you fold such different worlds into something that still sounds unmistakably you?
I think that probably comes from my voice and my tone, and even in the instrumental choices that I'm making that feel characteristically me, like the bass lines and the drum beats. Everyone has their own tone and ways that they land a note, or say a phrase, and when you familiarise yourself with an artist I think you can start to subconsciously recognise them through their tone.
You left ZEBEDE in 2024 to go solo and express yourself "without compromise." What were you finally able to do on your own terms that you couldn't before, and was the leap scarier or freer than you expected?
I loved being in that band and making music with my best friends, they were beautiful years, but when you're in a band your themes and visuals and ideas need to be cohesive and that can make them watered down to be able to cater to everyone's personalities. But being a queer Black woman I experience things that they don't, and so much of my music speaks to that, so being able to fully have control in all of those things is amazing. And it was scary, but I trusted in what I was doing, and they respected that, so it's all love with them, always.
You've called this EP a love letter to your people, where your first project introduced you, and this one introduces them. How did it change the way you wrote, knowing you were telling other people's stories as much as your own?
I think it's easier writing about other people from a storytelling perspective, and it was amazing tapping into memories of conversations I'd had with friends and then weaving it into the song. It feels like a lighter process when you're sifting through other people's stories than your own sometimes. Songs like 'SUNSHINE DAZE' feel more like an offering, like "oh I love you so much, here's this song" kind of feeling. So I think the whole project was written with a lot of tenderness, and going down gorgeous memory lanes.
You talk about the people who "continuously nourish my Blackness and my queerness." How do those parts of your identity, and your community, shape not just the lyrics but the actual sound of the EP?
I think I always return back to the origin when choosing sounds and songwriting. Dance music was created by Black and brown trans angels and I always try to honour that. 'COUNTRY CLUB' was written as a love letter to my queer Black community, and I listened to a lot of legends when we were making it, people like Frankie Knuckles, Honey Dijon and Larry Levan. It was such a joyful process.
There's this idea of finding joy in the chaos, of "joy and jest," running through the project. Why was it important to hold onto humour and lightness, rather than making something purely tender or serious?
I genuinely see the world like that, and I've been raised by some strong and hilarious women. I think the relationship of strength and humour side by side is so nurturing, it teaches us that heartbreak and heartache isn't forever, and they can end up becoming our best stories. I'm very much a cup half full kind of person, so I try to convey that as honestly as I can.
Is there a specific person or moment behind one of the songs you'd be willing to share, something small that became a whole track?
I've been in love with my person for 10 years now, he's an angel and a natural inspiration for a lot of my music, and 'HOME' was written about him. But it was a hard song to write. It's about me fighting with my OCD and how that can make being in love intense and scary sometimes. Fixating on feelings like "this might go away any moment" and getting stuck on a loop. 'HOME' is a song about finding your way back when you're in a sea of those thoughts, knowing that home can be a person, your person, a place, or even just being back in a calm space within your own mind. It's a sanctuary.
This EP leans further into your electronic influences and these cinematic soundscapes. What were you reaching for sonically this time that's different from your first project?
I wanted there to be a natural graduation from 'Pushing Up Flowers', because the themes of this project are about so many different people I know and love, and they can't all be contained to one sound. So I wanted each song to really lean into the genres that they sit with. Like if we're making a song like 'BABY DON'T MOVE' then of course we need a Stevie Wonder-esque bass line, and a rap, and a piano breakdown, and a section for a choir, obviously. I think musically I pushed myself to go further with this project.
You've worked with Fraser T. Smith at Abbey Road and with Kae Tempest on 'Freedom! '25'. What did collaborating with artists like that teach you, or change in how you approach your own work?
Fraser and Kae are two of the kindest, most amazing people to ever work with, and that's not even touching on their immense talent. They bring out a quiet confidence in me without me even realising, because they set such a great tone of mutual respect and deep love for music. Kae feels everything so deeply when he writes, like every single word, and you feel it too when he says them in his songs. And Fraser puts so much care into songwriting, lacing together the story and the heart of it with such care and detail, it's important to him and it really has made me look at songwriting in such a different way. So I've definitely carried that with me since, within my own music.
You've gone from gigging in bars to Mighty Hoopla, a Pride showcase and sharing Kae's Brixton stage. Does it feel as fast from the inside as it looks from the outside?
No, weirdly enough I was the calmest I had ever been all day before getting up with Kae at Brixton Academy, and you could not have gotten me on that stage any faster. I think through gigging for years and being inspired by so many of my friends, watching them begin to live out their dreams, I'm hungry for it. All those years of gigging have been practice, so I try to run towards opportunities and not away from them.
The series is called Before The Buzz, so what do you most want people to feel or take away when they discover your music right now, at this moment?
I want them to feel energised, and feel like they've listened to something new that has switched up their entire day for the better.
And a cheeky one to finish: you promised "cheeky basslines," so which track has your favourite, and why?
It's got to be the synth line in 'BABY DON'T MOVE'. It just feels like the most Stevie Wonder sounding riff ever, and it's one of my favourite moments on the whole project. It's like joy in a bassline.
'BABY DON'T MOVE!' is out now.
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