Within the walls of a confined North London warehouse, a new musical talent was born who, within a year, would resonate with audiences around the globe.
Daughter, known to some as the 21-year-old Elena Tonra, recorded four songs in that warehouse. The result of the session was His Young Heart, her debut EP, which she recorded and released herself. But the story really began when she released a series of demo tracks on her social networking pages in 2010. As word spread, her fan base grew steadily.
Her music made its way up the hype machine, and before long she cracked the number 3 spot on the Most Popular Song Chart. From there the momentum only grew, and people started taking note. The year has since been punctuated by a series of firsts.
Daughter got her first national radio play on BBC 6 Music with Tom Robinson, and she landed a radio session on BBC London with Jo Good. The Barometer column in The Independent called her "One to Watch," and they swooned for her "beautifully-sung, literary folk" and her "ethereal melancholy."
Then came the big next step: the release of His Young Heart. She introduced the EP with a sold-out show at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell, London back in April. This led to her first play on BBC Radio 2, where Steve Lamacq played the song "Landfill" on his weekend new music show.
She was also named Record of the Day's "Hottest Unsigned Act" in their Compass column for two consecutive weeks. This was a first not only for Daughter but for any artist. It was the first time Record of the Day ever chose the same artist for "Hottest Unsigned Act" for two weeks in a row.
As her career has continued its ascent, Daughter has played with artists like Lia Ices, Marcus Foster and Sharon Van Etten. This summer she played at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton, the Bushstock Festival in London, and the Lounge On The Farm Festival in Canterbury.
But her biggest live performance to date was a sold-out show at St. Stephen's Church in Shepherd's Bush with Matthew & The Atlas and Ben Howard. As she left the stage, the crowd cheered with a standing ovation.
Daughter's EP, His Young Heart is available to download and can be streamed from her Soundcloud or Facebook pages.