Cordelia O’Driscoll is a storyteller. Her lifelong fascination with the lore of classic
songwriters has grounded her in the folk tradition of meditating on life’s small moments.
On her debut Caramel EP and its standout single ‘Little Life’, she muses on fulfillment,
gratitude and being happy with what you have. The track’s runaway success in the
winter of 2023 proves that her message has a global resonance.

Raised in a creative household in Stroud, South-West England, O’Driscoll’s Scots-Irish
lineage places her as the daughter of a photographer father, screenwriter mother, and
the middle of three children alongside her two brothers. Music and performance filled
their home, with artists like Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell and Lauryn Hill forming the basis
of O’Driscoll’s musical education. At 15, she left home with her guitar to go and perform
at her local pub. “I was ridiculously relaxed about it,” she remembers. “I have a
separation that’s like, nobody’s actually listening. I really didn’t think anyone was ever
watching.” From there, her own songs began to flow, originally about abstract concepts
before a bolt of inspiration from Joni Mitchell struck. “I listened to an old interview where
she talks about how to overcome writer’s block; about honesty and writing from the
heart. Since then, everything has been autobiographical.”

Much as her folk heroes inspired her writing talents, O’Driscoll’s love of theatre taught
her to weave magic on stage. Her first creative success came with BURIED, a musical
rom-com about two serial killers falling in love that became the talk of Edinburgh Fringe
in 2017. Written alongside collaborator and friend Tom Williams, the entire run of the
show sold out before returning the following year. “That was the first time I saw my
songs come to life.” The show won the Cameron Mackintosh Award at the National
Student Drama Festival and was taken to the New York Musical Festival in 2019.
On stage is where O’Driscoll’s stories are animated into life. Having cut her teeth
gigging around the country since she was 15 years old, her tales are sung with wisdom
and world class, ethereal vocals. Her love of communal musicianship shines through
both alone and as a player in her band.

Living in London since 2020, O’Driscoll worked in the Pavilion Cafe in Victoria Park
through two years of pandemic lockdowns. Despite the 5am starts in deep winter and
12-hour shifts, she fell in love with the simplicity of the job and her uninterrupted life
outside of work. “I thought, maybe I’ll just do this, maybe I don’t need more.” Bottling
that realisation, she wrote ‘Little Life’. “My goal ultimately is just to enjoy my life. I don’t
think there’s anything that I would make myself miserable to achieve,” she explains. “I

really just thought this EP would come out, my friends would like it and I’d be proud of it;
that would be enough.” Since the song’s release in October 2023, millions of people all
over the world have connected with its messages of simplicity and escape; the perfect
introduction to the work of a generational talent.

As her Caramel EP continues to surpass its origins, 2024 starts as O’Driscoll’s most
prolific year. Forthcoming releases muse on the ebb and flow of friendship, drunken
arguments, and notes on growing older. Regardless of whether they’ll be officially
released, O’Driscoll writes songs like journal entries. “This might not be something I
would release but this just happened,” she explains. “Capturing these moments in time,
sometimes they’re incredibly fleeting. Then you perform them and you’re put back in
that headspace, going back in time. It’s like life flashing before your eyes.”