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Elmiene spent Thanksgiving<\/strong> at Stevie Wonder\u2019s house.<\/strong> The British singer first met the 76-year-old legend in London<\/a> last summer, opening for his BST Hyde Park show, and then a few months later, he ran into Wonder\u2019s wife on a trip to Los Angeles. His original plan was to fly home to London, but he changed his flights. \u201cThe next week, I was at Stevie\u2019s, eating turkey and cornbread,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n Since 2021, when he went viral on Instagram with a breathtaking, soulful cover of D\u2019Angelo\u2019s \u201cUntitled (How Does It Feel?)\u201d \u2013 filmed by a friend in front of the shabby garage of a Bournemouth Uni houseshare \u2013 Elmiene has been drawing comparisons to titans like Mario and Frank Ocean<\/a>, and catching the attention of his idols (Wonder included). His breakout came when Virgil Abloh<\/a> chose his song \u201cGolden\u201d to soundtrack what would become the designer\u2019s final, posthumous show. More industry love followed, with a Rising Star award nomination at the Brits<\/a> and Craig David calling him \u201cthe new wave of R&B\u201d.<\/p>\n Now, at 25, after releasing his debut album Sounds for Someone<\/em> this spring (styled sounds for someone<\/em>, with a typically Gen-Z hostility towards capitalisation), Elmiene says he has finally produced a work of art that delivers on that early praise. \u201cPeople forget,\u201d he explains from his new home in LA, where he moved in January. \u201cWhen those moments happen, nothing\u2019s guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n Born Abdala Elamin, to Muslim parents who fled Sudan via Cairo and Frankfurt before settling in Oxford when he was five, he cuts a distinctive silhouette: the beard of a patriarch, the oversized glasses of a Miami club owner, signature kaftans homemade by two former flatmates, Jack Pluckrose and Jasper Lin, who now make \u201c95 per cent\u201d of his clothing. In childhood, his mother played him traditional Sudanese music, and cousins introduced him to early-2000s R&B.<\/p>\n Home alone for long periods of time while his mum worked nights, the young Abdala would delve into YouTube rabbit holes of amateur vocal covers of \u201creally niche\u201d soul songs, downloading the original tracks from Grooveshark and LimeWire. \u201cI could be there for hours,\u201d he says, \u201creally soaking myself in the culture.\u201d Samples in newer songs took him further back to the 1970s, to Willie Hutch and older Motown and soul acts. At school, if he felt stressed or anxious, he would find an empty classroom and sing D\u2019Angelo until he had soothed his spirit.<\/p>\n All these influences have culminated in the eclectic debut. Despite having already released several EPs, live albums and a plethora of singles, this record is, Elmiene explains, the first time he\u2019s felt like every decision was made fully intentionally, including writing in Barbados and the US, and with diverse producers (Sampha, No ID and sometime Frank Ocean collaborator Buddy Ross).<\/p>\n \u201cIf I can\u2019t make you cry, I\u2019ve failed,\u201d he once said of his music. There\u2019s a good chance he\u2019ll do just that with the album\u2019s slow-paced lead single, \u201cCry Against the Wind\u201d, which sees him address his late father Jameel by name (\u201cI\u2019d watch the whole world drown to see you cry again\u201d). It\u2019s all left Elmiene hungry for more \u2013 so much so that having to embark on a 41-date tour this year is almost something of a speed bump: \u201cMy immediate reaction to the album coming out was, \u2018I just want to make the next one.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Elmiene will be at<\/em> GQ Heroes in Oxfordshire, from 30 June-2 July 2026. For more information and tickets, visit<\/em> GQHeroes.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n