NEW SINGLE ''RIVERS'' OUT THE 08 APRIL 2026
W: Katie Hall. I:
From the heart of Stoke-on-Trent, Mara Liddle is carving out a sonic space that feels like a whispered secret shouted over a club PA system. A pop artist for the digital age, she specialises, in the specific, messy, and often beautiful reality of being a girl in her twenties. Her sound is a calculated collision: the sugar-rush energy of hyperpop meeting the gut-punch honesty of an unfiltered diary entry.
"Most of my songs mask the emotional nature of the lyrics behind fun, dancey pop beats."
While her upbringing was soundtracked by the eclectic tastes of her parents—think The Flaming Lips and Fleet Foxes—Mara’s modern evolution leans into the "cutesy, bouncy" world of artists like Charli XCX and Pink Pantheress. Yet, beneath the high-octane production lies a core of radical vulnerability. She isn't just making music to dance to; she’s making music to feel seen by.
Mara’s creative process is as relentless as it is raw. Her latest single, ‘Rivers’, was born from a self-imposed "100-song challenge" where she penned two to three tracks a day for three months. This sheer volume forced her past her habit of overthinking and straight into the heart of her insecurities. Unlike her previous high-energy releases, Rivers is stripped back, trading synth layers for acoustic guitar to explore the anxieties of attachment and the fear of abandonment.
"I’m quite drawn to writing about the thoughts or insecurities people don’t always say out loud."
This honesty wasn't always easy. Mara admits that her journey started in the quiet isolation of her bedroom, making DIY demos she was too terrified to share. It took a shift in mindset—moving from fearing criticism to embracing her "craft"—to move from bedroom producer to a headlining artist who uses meditation and EFT tapping to find her pre-show confidence.
As she looks toward the rest of 2026, Mara is trading her "weakness" of overthinking for a new mantra: trusting the process. With a calendar filling up with festivals and new projects, she remains focused on the community aspect of music, often found in the crowd watching her fellow acts before she takes the stage herself.
"I’m learning that trusting the process and letting the music be a little imperfect is often where the best moments happen."
For Mara, the goal isn't just to reach the charts; it’s to reach the people who feel "not quite good enough" and tell them they aren't alone. Whether she's manifesting a dream collaboration with PinkPantheress or pouring her soul into a stripped-back ballad, Mara Liddle is proving that in the world of pop, the most "imperfect" moments are often the most powerful.