New music: Karen Harding – ‘Say Something’

The X Factor’s a funny old game, isn’t it? Whilst the TV show sends the UK into a spin on an annual basis, to find, what Simon Cowell and co believe is the ‘best singer in the country’, often it’s those who fail to make it far into the competition, that impress many viewers the most. Karen Harding is one of those examples – the young British model whose early exit in last year’s competition meant an about-turn for her career as a recording artist.

In our view though, this was a blessing in disguise – Harding has firmly launched herself as an artist within the resurgence of UK vocal house, an area that The X Factor would unlikely be able to springboard her into.

With new single Say Something (which lands next month), Karen Harding pays homage to the ‘early days’ of UK Garage in this storming UKG/house crossover, produced and co-written by MNEK. “I want to bring what Whitney Houston brought to ’80s and ’90s R&B to house” she tells Noisey, who premiered the cut last week. Here’s hoping she’s here to stay.

Take a listen to Say Something below, and hit the iTunes link for the preorder. The track lands on 19th October.