Twisted Riö is an English artist whose pop tunes are remarkably sweet. Surely, most pop music lyrical matter is subject to a positivity cloak, that these days feels more like a Superman-syndrome. But Rio is one of those singers whose optimistic view of the world is believable, and quite endearing.
With a tendency to want to empower everyone, as he does with himself, Riö is releasing “Fall into You” next month as a single.
What is in a name: “I did not want to come up with a stage name that was bland or predictable. I wanted to become someone more edgy, more modern with a name that stood out. I came up with Twisted Riö as Twisted sums up my sense of humor and personality perfectly. Riö as it has such a cool summery vibe to it. I feel the words complement each other.”
Other albums and EPs by queer artists: Big Dipper’s Extra Good : Derek Bishop’s Bicycling in Quicksand : Jake Lore’s Born To Believe : Bright Light Bright Light’s Life is Easy : Baron’s RadioHeart : SIRPAUL’s Seventh Star : Sinead O’Connor’s I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss : LP’s Forever For Now : Jason Mraz’s YES! : Austra’s Habitat : Neon Trees’ Pop Psychology : Rufus Wainwright’s Rufus Wainwright: Live from the Artists Den : The Sounds’ Weekend : Austra’s Olympia : KENN’s We Killed KENN : VV Brown’s Samson & Delilah : Sammy Crawford’s Reality Sets In : Nelly Furtado’s Spirit Indestructible : CocoRosie’s “We Are On Fire” : Stephan Nance’s A Troubled Piece of Fruit
Riö began to pursue music five years ago. After spending a year in Australia, he returned to England wanting to make a name for himself in the music scene. Fearing becoming a caricature, as many artists in the mainstream tend to do (according to Riö), he makes the studio his home.
“[It is where] I am most comfortable. Don’t get me wrong I love performing but the whole creative process excites me. I love coming up with new ideas. The writing process for me is normally pretty laid back, I like to take my time when it comes to that. I am a bit of a perfectionist and if I am not one hundred percent happy with the music then I won’t put it out there for everyone to hear.”
After his first ever UK Pride Festival appearance at Bristol Pride this year, Riö is enthralled by the idea of performing. In the summer he is performing at various UK Pride events, like Coventry Pride, Warwickshire Pride and Canterbury Pride. “My biggest gig this year is at Westenhanger Castle in June, it’s a massive thing for me as one of my childhood heroes Beverly Knight will also be performing at the event.”
“Euphoric State of Mind”, “Dancing by Myself” and “Everyone is Beautiful” are all available on iTunes and Amazon Digital Music. “Fall into You” is out on May 6th.
