Ula links with Daniel Lazenby on new single

Originally hailing from Poland and now based in London, Ula has built her musical vision around the space where melodic pop overlaps with more experimental sounds. Moving to the UK alone at 17 to study at The BRIT School, she began developing her creative voice through original music and live performance, eventually becoming the frontwoman of progressive pop project Tenacity. With nearly 70 London venues behind her, she’s cut her teeth as a performer while expanding her work behind the scenes as a studio engineer, producer and session musician.

Now stepping forward with a solo project of her own, Ula is exploring a more synth-focused, warped pop sound that makes room for both melodic appeal and eerie atmospheres. Taking cues from St. Vincent, Allie X and Aurora, Ula views pop as a space for experimentation, with her music bringing together avant-garde touches, carefully shaped melodies and an unsettling edge, creating a sound that can feel inviting one moment and otherworldly the next. Having previously led Tenacity, she now has the opportunity to venture further into her own creative sphere, building a unique musical output through a combination of unusual textures and emotionally compelling songwriting.

The first showcase of this direction arrived with “So Kind” in June last year, unveiling Ula’s solo work before two further singles led into her debut EP, Boysulk, released last November. The project marked an important step in confirming her status beyond the progressive pop setting of Tenacity, opening up a more synthesised and distorted musical landscape. With her experience across recording, production and performance, Ula brings an assured understanding of how songs can be sculpted, from their earliest ideas to the details that determine their final atmosphere.

Now, her latest single titled “Wish You Never Had” marks her return with a quieter but no less engaging musical experience. Penned and performed with longtime collaborator Daniel Lazenby, the track developed through an extended winter month at ZigZag Studios, where the pair worked towards an arrangement that balances intricate sound design with emotional tension. Daniel brings their own wide-ranging musical background to the collaboration; a composer and guitarist, they’ve spent the last decade making an impact in London’s music scene, drawing on film and video game scores, chart pop, rock anthems, jazz and metal.

Thematically, the song explores the stillness that can arrive when an emotion feels too complicated to unravel, where love appears as both a source of extraordinary light and a source of uncertainty, leaving the narrator caught between tenderness and disquiet. The difficulty sits not merely in feeling something deeply but in trying to understand what another person might be thinking and that emotional pendulum gives the track its moving context, with the calmness of the arrangement contrasting against the unresolved questions beneath it.

Set up by the soft pulse of percussion, “Wish You Never Had” opens with a dreamlike loop, where its subtly playful instrumentation carries a mesmeric quality. Ula’s delicate vocals gradually drift from this setting, lending the track an intimate character as the arrangement develops around her hushed voice. Mantra-like harmonic textures add to the immersive aesthetic, creating an enveloping backdrop for airy vocal melodies that hover above the hypnotic rhythm. Floating with twinkling tones, softly plucked guitars and expressive vocal performance, the song gently rises and falls to craft a spellbinding musical moment that’s memorable, original and wholly absorbing.

Building towards a finale where chiming instrumental elements and layers of textures swirl around Ula’s dazzling vocal leads, the song swells in the closing moments to leave a lasting impression. As Ula continues to develop her solo work, the single brings together the different strands of her creative background, from experience in live performance, an understanding of studio work and a desire to explore pop from unexpected angles. As she continues to go from strength to strength as a solo artist, we can’t wait to see what Ula has in store next on this exciting chapter of her ongoing creative adventure.

Listen to Wish You Never Had below

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