In 2025, ascendant British pop singer-songwriter Absolutely stormed the Internet with “I Just Don’t Know You Yet,” a rousing dark pop ballad that bridged faith, childlike wonder and submission to love’s whims. Just nine months later, a lot of people certainly do know Absolutely. And if she has any say, by the year’s end, they’ll also know that she boasts a voice and a pen that could very well help shape pop’s next frontier.
Born Abby-Lynn Keen, the reserved youngest sister of four-time Grammy nominee RAYE and London-based singer-songwriter Amma, Absolutely kicked off 2026 by releasing Paracosm, her sophomore album. Arriving via Epic Records as the follow-up to Cerebrum, her 2023 debut, Paracosm — generally defined as a detailed imaginary world thought to originate during childhood — found Absolutely putting the wonder-infused naïveté of those years to wax. She tapped heavyweight pop producers like Dave Hamelin (Beyoncé), Deputy (Rihanna, J. Cole) and Danja (Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake) to help craft a kaleidoscopic soundscape that combines elements of orchestral dream-pop, rock, ambient and R&B. From “No Furniture” to “Elevator,” each song plays as an individual room in the whimsical, ever-expanding mansion that is the psyche Paracosm attempts to capture in living color.
Absolutely, 22, is quickly scaling the ranks of pop music. Born into a musical household in Tooting, London, she began writing and producing songs with her dad as a child, branching out into her own solo sessions by 13. At 17 years old, she signed a publishing deal with S10 Entertainment and began working in pandemic-era Zoom writing sessions that eventually morphed into placements for artists like Anitta (“Amor Real”), Normani (“All Yours”) and Tinashe (“The Chase”). In 2023, she inked a licensing deal with Epic, giving way to the arrival of Cerebrum that fall. Though she now has co-writing credits on true radio hits like Teddy Swims & Giveon’s “Are You Even Real” under her belt (two weeks atop Adult R&B Airplay), Absolutely’s creative process remains the same: writing by herself on the piano and building production over skeletal loops.
“A lot of [Paracosm] started with just me and the piano,” she tells Billboard in New York City ahead of two back-to-back Radio City Music Hall shows. “I’m so free in those moments by myself, and I can explore and take as much time as I want on any [element] without being perceived.”
As she chugs through the final leg of RAYE’s This Tour May Contain New Music trek, on which she and Amma are supporting acts, Absolutely took a moment to speak with Billboard about her upcoming Paracosm animated project, how a broken hard drive rewired the album and why she’s leaving her Cerebrum-era “alien pop” descriptor behind.
When did you land on the title Paracosm?
I actually had five or so different album titles, and Paracosm came towards the end when I was. I saw a YouTube comment on one of my songs saying, “She’s my paracosm,” and I was like, “What’s that word?” It resonated with me without me even knowing what it was. I searched it up, and the definition fit so perfectly with the world I was trying to create [by drawing on] childlike wonder and that boundless imagination that you have as a kid.
When did you start feeling that Paracosm was taking shape as something separate from your debut?
Straight after Cerebrum came out. I’ve always been prolifically creative, but a lot of the songs in the beginning of that process got left behind. There was probably a whole other album that could have been released. There were many roller coaster moments, like my hard drive breaking a couple of times, so I lost the Logic files. For some reason, I wasn’t worried — because it felt like that was supposed to happen. The songs became so much better after I recreated them, and I left behind the ones that I wasn’t resonating with anymore.
A little bit later on, I felt myself getting stuck trying to finish the album. Everyone needed the “single” or the “commercial” [song], and that spun my head because that wasn’t my intention behind creating the album — or creating in general. I got stuck trying to figure out what an Absolutely single would sound like, and I kept hitting a wall in the studio, which was so abnormal for me. I had to reframe my perspective and go back to when I first found my love for music, which was when I was a child playing around with sounds and no rules or structure. I had to go back to where I felt most free to create.
And when I did that, I wrote a song called “Nowhere to Hide.” That was the breakthrough song, and after that came the most important songs for the concept of the album: “No Audience,” “Goodbye Glitter” and the title track. The most whimsical-sounding ones came towards the end.
How does the process of recreating a song from memory change your relationship with it?
“Painting by Numbers” was a journey, because that was one I had lost and re-recorded. I added new stacks and new production elements; it had this new life I was really excited about. But then we ran into another issue, which was that the producer gave part of the track to someone else, so we had to scramble to figure out how to recreate it in a way I was still passionate about. We changed the piano to stacked acoustic guitars, which made it feel even more dreamy.
You once said that “sometimes you can learn more about a feeling from a melody than a lyric.” Where do you feel that manifests most clearly on Paracosm?
There are moments like the intro of “No Audience” where I’m just singing a melody, and it’s really powerful. It tells its own story without words being there. When I’m creating my songs, melody comes first; whatever my heart wants to sing, it comes out. Sometimes a concept will come first, but usually the melody does.
Who did you create the album artwork with?
I was really inspired by Polish and Russian folk art portraits. They would have these amazing paintings with random things on the [subject’s] heads. I’ve been creating an animation project with a company called Art Partner, and they helped me build a 3D render of my face. The carousel is a really important part of the animation as well. There are lots of different Easter eggs from the animation that we pieced into [the cover]. Bless [3D generalist Zarina Kyrgyzkhan], I really put her through it because I had so many notes, and she still killed it.
How are you thinking of expanding that visual aesthetic into your live shows and future music videos for this album?
It’s going to be really special to see that come into fruition and see the audience all dressed up in that Absolutely aesthetic. The venues will definitely be smaller, but I’d like to play somewhere interesting or not as obvious. Somewhere I can dress up and make my own with drapes and the like, to make it a real experience.
How do you think Paracosm expands, reimagines or even reinforces your idea of “alien pop?”
Well, I kind of left behind the [term] “alien pop” because the first album was more intergalactic and fit it better. Now I would call [my sound] “experimental pop,” which I guess is kind of the same concept. I’m never consciously thinking about experimenting; I’m usually just creating what my heart wants. Naturally, I have pop tendencies because I’ve been writing pop songs my whole life, but I’m also exploring all the time. Those two [approaches] make “experimental pop.”
What was your biggest challenge in putting Paracosm together? How did this process compare to the one for Cerebrum?
Finishing [the album] was an art I’ve just learned how to do. On [Cerebrum], I didn’t go back into any of the songs because I hated the thought of re-entering that mindset. With this album, I’ve learned it’s really fun to home in on each detail and think about the intention behind each lyric and moment in the song. It’s still challenging to re-enter certain emotions, which is why I sometimes leave it in one-take, like “Trojan Horse.”
It was also challenging figuring out what songs to leave behind; getting down to 13 songs was really tough. I wrote about 60, and around 20 of them were strong contenders. There were definitely some gems that got left behind, but maybe a deluxe?
What lyric or production moment are you most proud of on Paracosm?
I’m really proud of “Paracosm,” the song. I feel I’ve perfectly encapsulated the inspirations behind the album, like Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I love the key changes at the end and all the stacks and the strings.
You also appear alongside your sister Amma on “Joy,” a standout track from your eldest sister’s new album. What does it mean to you to have such a hopeful song arrive at this moment when all three of you are launching new albums?
It’s the perfect song for us to be on together. It’s so pure and really encapsulates our relationship as sisters. It’s the perfect way for us to show gratitude for what God has done in our lives. It’s so powerful that we get to spread light through that song.
What else are you working on this year?
I haven’t been in the studio for a long time; it’s like a new season of my life I haven’t lived yet. There are two songs with John Summit coming out this week (April 15), and I think that’s the last time I was in the studio. I recorded them last year before the [European leg of This Tour May Contain New Music]. Or maybe it was January, still a long time. That feels surreal to say.
I also have my 3D animation, which is still in progress and will consist of six songs from the album. It’s going to be very whimsical, [Tim Burton vibes]. If I had the budget to do the whole thing, then I would call it a visual album. Unfortunately, we’re not there yet, but we’ll get there!
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