WE ALL know where we were when we heard the news. Cast your minds back to judges' houses of the X Factor UK 2010, and the moment Cheryl Cole sent the entire world into meltdown as she told Gamu Nhengu she wasn't going through to live shows.
Yup, cue Gamugate and everyone going actually insane.
After winning her fight to stay in the UK, the Zimbabwean lass is back with a debut album.
On Friday, Gamu’s single ‘Shake the Room’, was released in the UK with an accompanying video. The single is off Gamu’s debut album, ‘A Love Like This’.
Gamu, 21, turned to the 1960s for inspiration and mixed it with a contemporary twist of the RnB sound that she loves.
The single and album are her introduction to the world as a solo artist with a sound she has dubbed Nu: Vintage.
Gamu took a year to complete her debut album because she wanted to make sure her first offering was something she could be proud of.
She said: “I wanted to make something that would last, something timeless, classic and classy – like a Chanel suit.
“It was all about what direction I wanted to take, about trying to find who I was. Most of the songs are about love, because I wanted to sing about what I knew.
“I wanted things I could relate to: being in love, and heartbreak. The same things any young person will write about, really.”
After her X Factor rejection, and with the support of the British public Gamu found the strength to carry on with her pursuit of a music career and eventually signed to Scottish independent label GSound Records, because it felt “like a family”.
She told the Daily Mail: “It's more like a family. In a big label, I think I'd have been more like a child, being told what to do. But in a small label, you get to know everybody and they get to know you. That was definitely important to me.”
From the perky party anthem ‘Shake The Room’ to the lush, emotional ballad Teardrop Serenade, this is contemporary pop music performed with real soul and total commitment.
GAMU: SHAKE THE ROOM