Hemlocke Springs

Isimeme "Naomi" Udu^[1] (born November 16, 1998), known professionally as Hemlocke Springs (stylized in all lowercase), is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She first gained prominence for her self-produced song "Girlfriend" achieved viral popularity on video-sharing platform TikTok in 2022. Udu later released her debut extended play (EP), Going...Going...Gone!, on September 29, 2023.

Hemlocke Springs
Born	Isimeme Udu (1998-11-16) November 16, 1998 (age 26) Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Education	Spelman College (BS) Dartmouth College (MS)
Occupations	Singer songwriter record producer
Years active	2022–present
Musical career
Origin	Concord, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres	Bedroom pop indie pop synth-pop
Instrument	Vocals
Website	hemlockesprings.net

Early life and education

Isimeme Udu was born to two Nigerian immigrant parents on November 16, 1998, in Raleigh, North Carolina.^[2] Nicknamed "Naomi" by her parents, she grew up in Concord alongside her brother, a musician and SoundCloud producer.^[3] In her sophomore year of high school, Udu took a choir course and met a classmate who taught her to create music using GarageBand.^[4]

Udu graduated from Spelman College with a bachelor's degree in biology in 2021. Two years later, she graduated with a master's degree in medical informatics from Dartmouth College.^[5]

Career

2021–present: Career beginnings

While studying at Darthmouth College in 2021, Udu released various unnamed songs on SoundCloud, only to quickly remove them. The next year, she "wanted to get rid of that feeling of embarrassment" and uploaded a demo called "Jacob" under the name Hemlocke Springs.^[6] Afterwards, the artist self-produced and independently released her debut song "Gimme All Ur Luv" on May 24, 2022. The song was later named as "the best bedroom pop" song by Complex and gained over a million streams through audio streaming service Spotify.^[7] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Udu says she wrote the song during a period of depression at the school, thought about deleting the song, and then woke up to see that Grimes had commented on the track.^[6]

While working as a librarian at her university, she shared snippets of her second song on TikTok, which achieved viral popularity.^[8] "Girlfriend" was shortly released on November 2 and surpassed one million streams on Spotify with music critics and fans calling it an "awkward Black girl anthem." Hemlocke Springs told People she felt "so honored" and yet "still confused" for the song's success.^[9]

In January 2023, the artist was named one of the "essential emerging artists" by New Musical Express (NME) for her "bright and breezy bangers".^[10] Later that month, Hemlocke Springs released her third song, "Stranger Danger!", a critique of capitalism.^[11] Throughout the months of May to August, she began working with English record producer Burns and released three more songs.^[12] Her first festival performance occurred on July 21 at the Adult Swim Festival for the annual entertainment event San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC).^[13] "Enknee1" was released a month later with the artist announcing her debut extended play (EP) named Going...Going...Gone!, released on September 29, 2023.^[14] Pitchfork praised and described Hemlocke Springs' music aesthetics as "kitschy and yearning", where every song of the EP "can be imagined in a different scene" from a 1980s romantic comedy film.^[15]

While touring around in North America and Europe,^[16] the artist was invited to be an opening act for Muna's Life's So Fun Tour (2023) at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California. In the wintertime, Hemlocke Springs was announced as an opening act for American rapper Ashnikko's Weedkiller Tour in Europe.^[8] She was later featured in the "Class of 2024: Gold Standard" issue with other artists, published by DIY.^[17]

On January 30, 2024, the singer announced she would be an opening act for the European leg of Doja Cat's second concert tour, The Scarlet Tour.^[18]

Artistry

Udu's style distinctly draws from lo-fi music and indie pop. With the release of "Girlfriend", Heven Haile from Pitchfork described the song as "an ideal rom-com song" that "channels the bratty bravado of Family Jewels-era Marina and the springy falsetto of Kate Bush".^[19] Many of Udu's fans compared her debut song to Canadian singer Grimes' style, with Grimes also commenting on it.^[3]

Inspiration

In her middle school years, Springs was influenced by many EDM artists, primarily Swedish artist Avicii and his 2011 song "Levels".^[20] Udu also draws inspiration from many K-pop artists and groups.^[21] In an interview with Alternative Press, she claimed she came up with her stage name from a random name generator and added the letter "e" to the end of "Hemlock" in honor of New Zealand singer Lorde.^[22]

Discography

Hemlocke Springs discography
EPs	1
Singles	8
Music videos	5

Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected details

Title	Details
Going...Going...Gone!	Released: September 29, 2023 Label: Good Luck Have Fun Format: Cassette, digital download, streaming, vinyl

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released, and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		NZ [23]
"Gimme All Ur Luv"	2022	—	Going...Going...Gone!
"Girlfriend"		—[A]
"Stranger Danger!"	2023	—	Non-album singles
"Sever the Blight"		—
"Heavun"		—	Going...Going...Gone!
"Enknee1"		—
"POS"		—
"Christmas Time Is Here"		—	Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that failed to chart, was ineligible for the chart or was not released.

Music videos

List of music videos, showing year released, and director(s)

Title	Year	Album	Director(s)	Ref.
"Gimme All Ur Luv"	2022	Going...Going...Gone!	Ana Peralta Chong	[25]
"Girlfriend"				[26]
"Stranger Danger!"	2023	Non-album singles		[27]
"Sever the Blight"				[28]
"POS"		Going...Going...Gone!		[29]

Tours

Supporting

• Muna – Life's So Fun Tour (2023)
• Ashnikko – Weedkiller Tour (2023)
• Doja Cat – The Scarlet Tour (2024)

Filmography

Podcasts

List of podcast credits, with selected details

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
Superbloom Radio	2022	Guest		[30]
The Zane Lowe Show	2023		Episode 518	[31]
			Episode 603	[32]
The Travis Mills Show			Episode 491	[33]

Accolades

Listicles

Name of the publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement result

Publisher	Year[a]	Listicle	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
New Musical Express	2023	Essential New Artists	Herself	Included	[10]
Rolling Stone		100 Best Songs of 2023	"Enknee1"	98th	[34]

See also

• List of Dartmouth College alumni
• List of people from North Carolina
• List of Spelman College people

Footnotes

1. "Girlfriend" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 22 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.^[24]

1. Indicates the year listed. Each year is linked to the article about the listicle held that year, wherever possible.

References

1. Russell, Erica (May 1, 2024). "Hemlocke Springs Doesn't Need to Go Viral Again". Teen Vogue. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
2. Rigotti, Alex (March 9, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs is making the underdog the main character". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
3. Moore, Jacob (January 20, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs' change of plans". Complex. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
4. Gunn, Charlotte (January 20, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs: "It's all so exciting!"". The Forty-Five. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
5. Garrett, Jonathan (December 14, 2022). "Hemlocke Springs: TikTok star creating a new, wildly eclectic pop vision". New Musical Express. Archived from the original on December 18, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
6. Spanos, Brittany (November 23, 2022). "Hemlocke Springs is happy to make your 'awkward Black girl anthems'". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
7. Moore, Jacob; Gardner, Alex; Fife, Carter; Hill, Shamus (September 29, 2022). "Best New Artists". Complex. Complex Networks. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
8. Slocum, Matt (December 12, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs: Life of a Gen Z viral sensation". Rolling Stone Australia. The Brag Media. Archived from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
9. Richards, Bailey (November 30, 2022). "Meet Hemlocke Springs, the singer taking over TikTok: 'I'm so honored'". People. Dotdash Meredith. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
10. Flood, Alex (January 6, 2023). "The NME 100: essential emerging artists for 2023". New Musical Express. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
11. Disalvo, Tom (January 13, 2023). "Listen to Hemlocke Springs' new single "Stranger Danger!"". New Musical Express. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
12. Renshaw, David (May 3, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs throws a medieval feast in her "Sever the Blight" video". The Fader. Archived from the original on May 16, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
13. Adkins, Hannah (June 29, 2023). "Details announced for Adult Swim Festival '23; Eric Andre and Flying Lotus to headline". Nerds and Beyond. Archived from the original on April 23, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
14. Kelly, Tyler Damara (May 3, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs announces new extended play, Going...Going...Gone!". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
15. Swann, Emma (October 6, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs: Going...Going...Gone! extended play album review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
16. Hatfield, Amanda (August 8, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs announces fall shows". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
17. "DIY's Class of 2024 issue - feat. HotWax, Picture Parlour, Fat Dog, Hemlocke Springs & more - is out now!". DIY. December 11, 2023. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
18. Doja Cat [@dojacat] (January 30, 2024). "🖤". Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Instagram.
19. Haile, Heven (November 2, 2022). "Hemlocke Springs: "Girlfriend"". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
20. Young, Martyn (April 13, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs: "You only get a first impression once"". Dork. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
21. Carter, Daisy (December 13, 2023). "Class of 2024: Hemlocke Springs". DIY. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
22. Rosenberg, Sam (January 9, 2023). "TikTok sensation Hemlocke Springs is your next DIY pop obsession". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
23. NZ Hot Singles Chart peaks:

    • "Girlfriend": "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. November 14, 2022. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
24. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 1, 2024. Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
25. Springs, Hemlocke (November 30, 2022). "Hemlocke Springs — gimme all ur luv (Official Video)". Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via YouTube.
26. Springs, Hemlocke (November 30, 2022). "Hemlocke Springs — girlfriend (Official Video)". Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via YouTube.
27. Springs, Hemlocke (November 30, 2022). "Hemlocke Springs — stranger danger! (Official Video)". Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via YouTube.
28. Springs, Hemlocke (May 3, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs — sever the blight (Official Video)". Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via YouTube.
29. Springs, Hemlocke (May 3, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs — pos (Official Video)". Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023 – via YouTube.
30. "Hemlocke Springs". Superbloom Radio. December 9, 2022. Apple Music (United States). Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
31. "Hemlocke Springs and Shawn Mendes". The Zane Lowe Show. June 12, 2023. Apple Music (United States). Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
32. "Hemlocke Springs". TheThe Zane Lowe Show. November 28, 2023. Apple Music (United States). Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
33. "Hemlocke Springs". The Travis Mills Show. October 11, 2023. Apple Music (United States). Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
34. Jones, CT (December 1, 2023). "The 100 Best Songs of 2023". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved February 26, 2024.

Further reading

• Taylor, Henrietta (September 18, 2023). "One to Watch: Hemlocke Springs". The Guardian. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
• Hess, Tobias (November 29, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs Isn't Daydreaming Anymore". Paper. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
• Brown, August (April 10, 2024). "The U.S. might ban TikTok. Record labels are cutting ties. What's music's Plan B?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 22, 2024.

External links

• Official website