Laylo

Anyone quick to describe Laylo Rikhsieva as the »Uzbek Billie Eilish« – a comparison that occasionally surfaces – is likely to miss what makes her work distinctive. Over the past few years, the Tashkent-based singer-songwriter has developed a remarkably individual voice, moving between stripped-back bedroom pop, lo-fi textures, and a kind of intimacy that resists easy categorisation. Songs such as »Home«, »Simple«, and »Cry« were first written in the privacy of her bedroom, offering a space to express emotions that often had no place in everyday life.

The pandemic marked a turning point for Laylo. What began as a hobby became a necessity. Rather than following a conventional career path, she chose the uncertainty of an artistic life over the apparent security of more traditional expectations. Since then, she has written and produced most of her music herself, creating compositions that evolve slowly, sometimes taking months to reach their final form. Her musical references range from The Beatles and Linkin Park to Joji, jazz, hip-hop, and lo-fi. She also shares a family connection with the influential Uzbek musician and Maqom scholar Yunus Rajabiy. Rather than seeing his legacy as an obligation, however, she understands it as an invitation to rethink tradition and transcend cultural boundaries.

Laylo Rikhsieva’s songs explore mental health, vulnerability, belonging, and the search for one’s place in the world. For her, success is not the ultimate goal. Instead, she hopes to create music that people return to again and again.