Caity Baser on her latest singles, personal topics & intimate shows

Lauded by major outlets such as Rolling Stone UK, The Guardian, Dork, DIY and Clash, to name a few, Baser garnered a Brit Award nomination in 2023, has graced the stage twice at Glastonbury as well as other major festivals, and released her first two mixtapes, ‘Lil CB’ and ‘Still Learning’, in 2021 and 2024, but 2025 marks a brand new era for the singer.

Earlier this year, the 22-year-old released her latest singles ‘Running From Myself’ – an emotional and upbeat track that is about running into your problems head-on – and ‘Watch That Girl’, which explores heartbreak, a difficult childhood and parental relationships. Baser touched on why it was the right time to begin writing about more personal topics, having initially projected an image of being carefree and young with tracks such as ‘Slut Shaming’, ‘Friendly Sex’ and ‘I Love Making Bad Boys Cry’, and explained the meaning behind ‘Running From Myself’.

“I’ve fallen in love, basically. I think previously when I’ve made music, it’s been very angry and very ‘I don’t care; I am the best thing in the world, etc., but I am actually quite sensitive, and there are a lot of things that I’ve never spoken about that really matter to me since being with somebody that has given me the space to heal. It’s made me feel comfortable in those areas now and feel good about talking about them, Baser stated.

“It’s about how I’ve been running from myself and how I’ve been ignoring all of my problems by disguising them with bright colours and fun outfits and when I was making the song with Oh Wonder, they were like, It sounds like you need to run into them head-on, and that’s what the song is about, really. It’s about owning all the things that I’ve been running away from, and we wanted it to sound really upbeat and uptempo because it’s actually quite a sad song if you listen to the lyrics, and all the instruments are live,” the 22-year-old added.

For Baser’s latest tour, which kicked off at Southampton’s Joiners Arms last Wednesday and culminates with a date at Manchester’s FAC251 on Friday evening, Baser has opted to do a run of smaller intimate shows, and the fast-rising pop star explained the reasoning behind the decision to run smaller venues.

“I think it’s because I have been gone for a while. I’ve not really done just Caity Baser shows. I’ve done festivals and stuff in the summer, but I haven’t done just headline shows, and I think I wanted to put on a couple of shows for the people that really care and perform to them what I’ve been working on because that’s something I really wanted to do. I’ve never performed with just me and a piano, so it’s proper stripped back – just me singing, telling them what I’ve been up to. It’s very intimate and cool.”

Over the years, the musical landscape has changed dramatically, with social media platforms such as TikTok becoming a major tool for artists to use for promotion and to build a following online. Last year, the likes of ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ by Shaboozey, ‘Not Like Us’ by Kendrick Lamar, Tommy Richman’s ‘Million Dollar Baby (VHS)’ and Tinashe’s ‘Nasty’ were just four of the tracks that went viral on the social media platform. However, Baser believes that there’s no longer an emphasis on making TikTok-friendly tracks, and making music exclusively for the platform made her “feel like a robot”.

“I think there definitely was (an emphasis on making TikTok-friendly music), but I think we live in a time where it doesn’t really matter anymore. I think TikTok is a really great tool to reach people, and it’s cool to promote yourself in such a fun way and such a visual way, but I think focusing your whole life and whole creativity into TikTok just makes you feel sad, so don’t do it, Baser stated.

“When I was making music before, that’s what I was doing, and this is the first time where I’ve been like, ‘This makes me feel like a robot. I don’t want to do it anymore.' I am going to make songs that feel good for me, and that’s what I’ve done – it feels much better if it doesn’t go viral; I don’t care, and if it does, brilliant. Either way, it’s going to be great,” the singer added.

You can catch Baser at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow tomorrow evening and in Manchester at FAC251 on Friday evening.