Do you ever, after listening to a song, get that feeling of “I want more of this, I need more of this”? That is exactly what Nostalgia did to me a week ago, and might do to you, too. The tune lures you in with appeasing harmonies, keeps you hooked with simple yet hard-hitting words, and finishes you with some heart-wrenching piano. Four minutes and 25 seconds of pure beautiful melancholy.



But the one song is all we get for now, and that was not enough for this music lover. So I decided to reach out to the artist; and luckily for me, he seemed as excited to chat about it as I was. So we set a date, and the days following the release of Nostalgia, I’m on the phone with Alfie Sharp.



What’s most striking about Alfie is his genuineness. Whether we are talking about his story or his music, he seems open and honest about it all. Unprompted, he keeps gushing over the unexpected success of his one song, that ended up at number 2 on the r’n’b charts of iTunes in the United Kingdom (right behind <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQsZUVMwEls" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (ouverture dans un nouvel onglet)">Jorja Smith and Burna Boy’s Be Honest</a>) in just one day.



“I mean I woke up yesterday morning, he tells me on October 26th, and I thought ‘Oh, I’ll just check the charts’, and it was number 6! I couldn’t believe it, I just started to scream like ‘Mum, I&#8217;m in the charts&#8217; and then it dropped to number 7 and I was like ‘Oh, there it goes’ (&#8230;) and then I checked again in an hour, and it was like at number 4! And then my friend rang me and it was at number 3! Then it was number 2! And I was just like ‘What is going on?!’”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4CLfbolkvk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
</div></figure>



Born and raised in Nottingham, in the UK, Alfie has played the piano and sung ever since he was a child. He recalls gathering around at holidays and family parties, and singing together. He grew up listening to different genres and artists &#8211; old school r’n’b, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Lily Allen, Lana Del Rey… But he has only started actually working on music himself a couple of years ago. “Writing my own stuff is something that I have always wanted to do, but I never really found the opportunity, until I met some fellow artist that now looks after me, who is my manager- <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Nina Smith (ouverture dans un nouvel onglet)" href="https://www.instagram.com/ninasmithmusic/" target="_blank">Nina Smith</a>. She basically got me into songwriting.”



Nostalgia was his first. Written in two parts between a studio and Alfie’s house, the song, as we can hear today, took roughly three months to record. “I knew exactly that I wanted harmonies like that to bring the intro in. It was all in my head.” But then adjustments had to be made. A perfectionist’s way of creation. “The guy that worked with me, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (ouverture dans un nouvel onglet)" href="https://www.instagram.com/tomshawcroft/" target="_blank">Tom Shawcraft</a>, and I- we had endless conversations of me saying ‘no, we need to change this’ or ‘we need to put this in’, ‘can we add this in?’, ‘can we cut this out?’ (&#8230;) It had to be right. And I wouldn’t have released it if it weren’t right.”



As for what inspired the song itself, the 17-year-old explains that it was born out of a low point of his young life. “I thought that I’d never be able to do music because of an illness. I’m fine now, but I thought I’d never be able to do the thing I loved the most again. So I had the idea of this song. It was more emotion than anything. The emotion of fear that I’d never be able to do it again.”&nbsp;



Alfie plans on putting out more music in the world, soon. At least four songs are currently in the works, and he hopes on releasing them by the end of 2019. “I just want to be able to make music, I don’t want to blow up the charts. I’m just a local lad from Clifton in Nottingham and it’s like a dream to me, really. (&#8230;) If I can make a sustainable living out of it, I’ll be happy.”&nbsp;



<h6 class="wp-block-heading">Nostalgia by Alfie Sharp / First Light Label </h6>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe title="Spotify Embed: Nostalgia" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/37C4hvdsHygqpA4Xzo8eAW?si=sTcOd32LQqqjCt94SSeyUA&#038;utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
</div></figure>

Alfie Sharp, the “Local Lad from Nottingham” Who Ended Up at Number 2 in the R’n’b UK Charts

Meet… blond

Meet… Silvie

Meet… Ask Elliot

Playlist: Women of 2k21

Family Is at the Root of It All: Jackie Marchal Often Finds Herself Reflecting on That in Music

Recs Sunday : notre sélection de nouveautés musicales du 26 septembre 2021

Recs Sunday: Our September 26th, 2021 Songs Picks

Recs Sunday: Our September 19th, 2021 Songs Picks

Recs Sunday : notre sélection de nouveautés musicales du 19 septembre 2021

Let Mouad Soothe Your Soul With His Melancholic and Dreamy “Lorraine”

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 3 septembre 2021

#RecsFriday: our September 3rd, 2021 song picks

“Feels So Easy” Is the Perfect Post-Lockdown Song: Meet Ber, the Singer Behind It

#RecsFriday: our August 27th, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 27 août 2021

#RecsFriday: our August 20th, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 20 août 2021

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 13 août 2021

#RecsFriday: our August 13th, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 6 août 2021

#RecsFriday: our August 6th, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 30 juillet 2021

#RecsFriday: our July 30th, 2021 song picks

“Dream Through Music” Is What June Cocó Aims to Help Listeners Do

Rencontre avec June Cocó : “Je reste une optimiste qui aime créer de la musique réconfortante”

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 23 juillet 2021

#RecsFriday: our July 23rd, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 16 juillet 2021

#RecsFriday: our July 16th, 2021 song picks

Playlist: Calming Tunes

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 9 juillet 2021

#RecsFriday: our July 9th, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 2 juillet 2021

#RecsFriday: our July 2nd, 2021 song picks

Regardez notre quatrième episode de “ChillChat”, avec Tiphanie Doucet

#RecsFriday: our June 25th, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 25 juin 2021

Hope Tala face à ses fantômes dans l’ensorcelant clip de “Mad”

Hope Tala Is Bewitchingly “Mad” in Her New Music Video

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 18 juin 2021

#RecsFriday: our June 18th, 2021 song picks

Tim Dup et Aurélie Saada nous font goûter l’été à l’italienne avec “Montecalvario”

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 11 juin 2021

#RecsFriday: our June 11th, 2021 song picks

Musicienne multifacette, Sarah Kinsley veut rendre “hommage à la jeunesse” avec son disque “The King”

Sarah Kinsley: “I Wanted to Write a Sort of Tribute to Youth”

#RecsFriday: our June 4th, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 4 juin 2021

Meet Adèle & Robin: “In Music, There’s a Lot of Luck”

Adèle & Robin : “On ne veut plus attendre pour faire les choses qu’on a envie de faire”

#RecsFriday: our May 28th, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 28 mai 2021

Zak Abel rejoint la vague de “kindness” avec un clip dansant et rayonnant

Zak Abel’s “Be Kind” Is an Invitation to Dance and Think

#RecsFriday: our May 21st, 2021 song picks

#RecsFriday : notre sélection de nouveautés du 21 mai 2021

slenderbodies’ “Heartbeat” Music Video Is an Ode to Life

Les peines et les joies d’un frère et une soeur dans le nouveau clip de slenderbodies

#RecsFriday: May 14th, 2021

#RecsFriday : 14 mai 2021

Tai Verdes Will Enhance Your Mood by More Than 2% With “A-O-K”

Tai Verdes et la bonne humeur contagieuse de “A-O-K”

#RecsFriday: May 7th, 2021

#RecsFriday : 7 mai 2021

Adam Melchor et Lennon Stella vous feront voyager avec “Light Year”

Adam Melchor and Lennon Stella Will Take You a “Light Year” Away in Their New Music Video

#RecsFriday : 30 avril, 2021

#RecsFriday: April 30th, 2021

“Zombie!”: Orla Gartland fights off toxic masculinity with male (zombie) tears

Orla Gartland sauve des hommes-zombies de la masculinité toxique dans la vidéo de “Zombie!”

Tessa Violet Revamps “Games” in a “Twilight”-Inspired Music Video

Tessa Violet recrée la scène de baseball de “Twilight” dans son nouveau clip “Games”

“Fearless” 2.0 : Taylor Swift se réapproprie son passé entre nostalgie et renouveau

Playlist: Escapade

12 mars 2020 : Oh Wonder faisait vivre à Paris l’un de ses derniers concerts

March 12th, 2020: When Oh Wonder Electrified the Alhambra in Paris

Watch our third episode of “ChillChat”, with Easha

Playlist: Ladies, From A to Z

Hayley Williams fait rimer musique et thérapie dans “Flowers for Vases”

How to Write a Heartbreak Song, a Recipe by Rhys Lewis

Écrire la parfaite chanson de rupture en 7 étapes : une recette de Rhys Lewis

Playlist: Dance It All Away

Comment TikTok a transformé “Ratatouille” en comédie musicale Broadway

2020, l’année de l’escapade musicale de Taylor Swift

Playlist: Women of 2k20

Playlist: Soft & Cozy

Playlist: A 2020 Quarantine Mix

Watch our second episode of “ChillChat”, with Rhys Lewis

Playlist: Embracing All the Feels

Playlist: Summer, a concept

Watch the first episode of our new series “ChillChat”, with Reuben James

Reuben James nous raconte le making-of de son EP “Slow Down”

The Making of “Slow Down”, the EP by Reuben James: “These were the best peaches I ever had”

Gigs from Home: 6 Musicians You Can Watch Live During Coronavirus Quarantine

Playlist: Retro Feel-Good Vibes

Une île fictive (Eroda), de faux comptes et des poissons : la recette de la promo de “Adore You”, d’Harry Styles

Playlist: More Chill Vibes

Eroda: The Non-Existent Island that Is Driving the Internet Mad… And It Might Be Harry Styles’ Fault

Playlist: Chill Vibes