Manuela Tomé

Our LISTEN LIVE playlist showcases a culmination of songs from some of our favourite artists that you can catch performing live in the upcoming weeks.

Today’s addition to LISTEN LIVE is ‘IF I WAS SPECIAL’ by Manuela Tomè

Manuela is a self-taught Singer-songwriter of Angolan heritage, born and raised in the city of Coventry, UK. The artist’s passion for music originates from her upbringing where she grew up listening to Portuguese & Angolan music at home alongside Michael Jackson, Bob Marley and Amy Winehouse who were some of her earliest inspirations. Her current musical influences include the likes of Jorja Smith, Cleo Sol, Kaytranada, Ravyn Lenae and Miraa May.

After moving to seaside town Bournemouth in 2011, Manuela started songwriting at 13 and continued throughout her teenage years as a coping mechanism for a difficult time in her life where she felt lost and confused in a place she felt she did not belong. Manuela recalls spending hours sitting by the window looking out at nature with a blank mind, a pen and notebook at hand, not knowing that music would become more than just an outlet. At 16, she purchased her first microphone, recorded her vocals at home & began to share her talent online via SoundCloud.