Evie Irie signs with Downtown Music Publishing

Evie Irie, the singer-songwriter prodigy from Sydney who, at 16, already has a debut EP to her name, has signed with Downtown Music Publishing.

“I’m super excited to now be a part of the amazing roster of writers and producers that Downtown represents,” says Irie, “and I hope that this will be a long-lasting partnership that will help me develop even further as a songwriter.”

The teen last month released her debut EP 5 Weeks in LA which, as its title suggests, was penned during a trip to California.

The first single from it ‘Bitter’ has had more than 831,000 hits on Spotify and its accompanying music video has raced past 263,000 views since it launched June 28 on YouTube.

Evie Irie, ‘Bitter’

‘Bitter’ was co-written by Casey Smith and co-produced by Zach Skelton of Downtown client Patriot Games Publishing, alongside songwriter and producer Andy Seltzer.

Raised in Australia, Irie started playing music at just 11 years old and began turning her thoughts into song soon after. By 15, Irie was well travelled in the United States, where she embarked on a year-long journey shaping her songwriting skills, with stops in L.A., New York and Nashville.

L.A. proved to be a particularly fruitful creative space for Irie, who specialises in soulful pop.

“Five weeks into our ‘one week trip,’ I had secured a lawyer, management, a record deal, an agent, a publisher and most importantly wrote these five songs that are on the EP,” Irie tells Pile Rats. “I went through a lot of emotions during this time as well.”

Irie scored a record deal with Republic and she’s managed by Troy Carter, who guided the career of Lady Gaga prior to joining Spotify in the role as global head of creator services and more recently launched Q&A with former Atom Factory co-president J. Erving. “Downtown added value from the moment Evie arrived in L.A.,” says Carter. “Their level of commitment and creativity showed us right away this was the best partner for Evie.”

Downtown Music, which expanded into Australia last year with the launch of a Sydney office, led by Rachel Kelly, has high hopes for its new signing. “To work with an artist as gifted as Evie,” says Downtown Senior Vice President of Global Creative, Andrew Gould, “is a rare opportunity in and of itself.”

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.