Your latest release, "Ruin Our Friendship" is a deeply relatable song about falling for a best friend. What inspires you, and how do you go about writing a song?

I am genuinely inspired by everything around me – what I’m going through, what my friends are going through… I use writing as a way to get out any thoughts or feelings that have sat with me for a while, and I use it as a way to explore complicated feelings and emotions. A lot of the time my music is quite love and relationships-centric, but I really tried to put an empowering, sort of ‘girlboss’ spin on the songs on the new EP, so they were relatable, but also instilled that feeling of everything being within your control.

My approach to songwriting is that I tend to start with a concept that I want to delve into and have that as the theme of the song. Then lyric ideas often flow from this, even if it is just at an early stage in the process and we have no music! I think my favourite approach is probably having a theme, settling on the sound we want to work with, and then structuring lyrics from there.

This track marks the final chapter of your Sunday Girl EP. How does it tie together the themes and emotions explored throughout the project?

"Ruin Our Friendship" is all about the ‘will we, won’t we?’ experience when you start to see someone in your life slightly differently, and you want to explore whether there is a romantic connection there. I really relate to this theme of having a close friend and then starting to see them differently, and you are debating with yourself whether it is worth ruining the friendship and taking the leap, or if the friendship is too precious and important that you can’t possibly risk losing it. I think this ties into the whole idea of the EP which explores different relationships and different approaches to relationships. ‘Sunday Girl’ is very much about understanding your worth and knowing that you are more than just a ‘Sunday Girl’, and finding that self-worth. "Burning Down a Home" was the second single and was about when you are in a stagnant sort of relationship which is no longer serving you, and that it is just a matter of time before one of you breaks it off, but it is so comfortable and you are so used to life with that person that it is almost an effort to do this!  Again, along those themes of knowing your worth. "All That I Want" is actually quite a positive song, and is about finding the right person and them being all that you ever wanted, but it plays into the theme of learning to let your guard down in a relationship and truly be vulnerable enough to open up your heart to that person.

Your sound has evolved with this EP - how would you describe the journey from your earlier releases to this new ‘fresh’ sound?

I think my earlier releases really leaned into the ‘indie’ genre. I grew up listening to indie music so naturally my songwriting followed that path. As I started to mature more and my songwriting started to improve, I have definitely gone in a more ‘Pop’ direction and I absolutely love it! I think the music feels so much more authentic and more me, and the themes I write about definitely lend themselves more to Pop music, but there are definitely hints of indie still in there I think, especially with ‘Burning Down a Home’.

You’ve already played some incredible venues, from festivals across the UK and LA to Twickenham Stadium on live national TV. What’s been the most surreal moment in your career so far?

The most surreal moment in my career so far was definitely hearing my music played on BBC Radio One for the first time. This was such a goal of mine for a very long time, and I even wrote it on my 2025 vision board, so to be told on the day that ‘All That I Want’ was released back in January that they would be playing it on the Future Pop Show was just the most surreal moment! My Mom has always had Radio 1 playing and I just grew up listening to it, and I couldn’t believe they were going to play my track. I had a listening party at my house in London and all my friends came and I just couldn’t believe it was actually me on a tracklist with artists like Tate McRae and Sabrina Carpenter, who I really look up to. I facetimed my Mom and Dad after and we were all crying haha… honestly such a pinch me moment!

Your Sunday Girl UK Headline Tour kicked off on 11th April. How have you been preparing for the live shows? And what advice can you give for young artists in the early stages of performing live?

The area of preparation that I have been focusing on the most I would say is curating the perfect set list. This is the first time I have ever toured the UK and to be able to headline these venues in London, Manchester and Birmingham is so exciting, and I want to really do the shows justice. I have been working with my wonderful MD on curating a setlist which really resonates with where I am as an artist at the moment, so we have changed up a few of my older songs and made them fresh, and new, and they honestly sound like we’re playing new songs which is very exciting! We have also been working on a couple of interesting covers which really sit well within that Pop space in which I am focusing my music on right now, so it should be very new ‘Matilda Pratt’ show that people haven’t really seen before!

The best advice I would say is to try and say ‘yes’ to as much as possible. Gain as much experience as you can, playing shows and working with different producers and songwriters, because you will learn to hone your craft and also learn who you gel the best with and make the best music with. This was a big turning point for me – finding ‘my people’ within the industry who I really enjoyed working with, and you honestly tend to make the best music with those people when you’re in a comfortable environment and this helps creativity flow. I also try to play as many live shows as possible because it helps you understand who you are as a live performer, and you can try new things out with different crowds and see what feedback you get. Plus, for me, there is no better feeling than playing your own songs live and people knowing the words by the last chorus!

Stream "Ruin Our Friendship" on Spotify below, or purchase the single on Bandcamp.

Connect with Matilda Pratt:

Instagram: @matildaprattofficial

TikTok: @tillypratt

YouTube: Matilda Pratt Official