Lion Babe in London: we meet the New York ‘future soul’ duo who have Pharrell on speed dial

Phoebe Luckhurst talks Tidal, Mark Ronson, Pharrell and the Brits with New York ‘future soul’ duo, Lion Babe
Mane event: Lucas Goodman and Jillian Hervey

If you’re lucky — and haven’t done too much to alienate them — you have a small group of people you can text at all hours soliciting counsel or comfort. It is likely you have collected them over the course of many years: a university friend here, a work pal there. Jillian Hervey texts Pharrell.

“It’s awesome,” admits the 25-year-old lead singer of Lion Babe (yes, it’s the hair — but it’s also the appeal of “fierceness and boldness”). “I text him at five o’clock to ask about something and he’ll answer. He’s a good one to have on call just in case you’re like, ‘Oh, I feel shit today, let’s see what’s going on with him’.”

Alongside cavorting with Cara Delevingne and flaunting his Apple Watch, Pharrell has co-produced Wonder Woman, the first single from the New York “future soul” duo’s as yet untitled album. It’s released on May 24 and to celebrate the band will play a London gig at Scala on May 20. The single is an absorbing blend of soul and tricksy electronic beats; the video is Barbarella meets The Jetsons (watch it).

Pharrell doesn’t produce duds — he’s won 11 Grammys and in 2003 a survey calculated that he had produced 20 per cent of all the music played on British radio — rising to 43 per cent in the States. He’s not the first producer to take notice of Lion Babe: the pair have also worked with Mark Ronson, he of the Midas touch (and dollops of Uptown Funk).

Wonder Woman has been generating chatter in hipper circles for a while, and now it’s getting airtime on Radio 1.

The other half of the pair is the laconic Lucas Goodman, who looks like a conventionally attractive Adam Driver. Together they’re having a lot of fun. When we meet, in a cold photography studio near Old Street, they’ve spent the previous week seeing very little of the capital, shuttling from meeting to meeting in Ubers (“You aimlessly look out of your Uber window and think, ‘Oh my God, where’s that?’” says Hervey, regretfully).

Despite the schedule, they squeezed in a gig at Chiltern Firehouse. “Very fancy,” says Hervey, approvingly. “It was a really cool space: I like the combination of trees and luxury lounge. And the drinks are really good.” Any celebrity spots? “Besides us?” she quips. “I don’t think so. There were lots of older men.”

They also flew in for the Brits: “We went to an afterparty,” says Goodman. “We were DJing a little — then we partied a bunch. It was a good time.”

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But between the good times there’s a lot of hard work going on. Hervey and Goodman met through a mutual friend four years ago. She is a trained dancer; he spent his New York childhood and college years in Boston throwing tunes together. “Making beats and stuff,” says Hervey, affectionately. “Then we just kept that creative relationship going. And now we’re here.”

When they started out they envisaged having more members in the band but they like the freedom of the twosome, which invites opportunities to flirt with collaborators. They admire James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Prince and Bowie — and morose Brits Radiohead. “They’re at a level where they’ve done their thing and can have no label, no promo and put an album out that everyone’s going to want to hear,” says Goodman.

Jay Z is taking on Spotify with his new music service Tidal, pulling in high-profile fans including Madonna and Taylor Swift. What do the pair — as relative newbies — think of online streaming services? “There’s a constant shift,” Hervey says thoughtfully. “The internet isn’t going away and it’s only going to expand. So it’s interesting to see how old labels have to adjust. They’re open to it but also a little hesitant. Shows are becoming more important again.”

“Technology is always ahead of people,” adds Goodman sagely.

Hervey’s mother is US actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams, so she’s rather ambivalent about the idea of fame. “When you grow up with a famous person you don’t want to be famous at all. So I don’t care about that.” Right now, she just wants to get the album out, record more music and go get some food from Brick Lane, which is where they’re headed next. “If we lived here I imagine we would live east,” says Hervey. As well as the Scala date in May, there’s Escape in Brighton this summer, and Lollapalooza in Chicago — and they’d love some time off to do the festival season as civilians.

Pharrell is a proven kingmaker; these big cats have a jungle crown to claim.

Lion Babe’s new single, Wonder Woman, is out May 24 on Outsiders Recorded Music (Universal Music). The band perform at London Scala on May 20. Lionbabe.com

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