hemlocke springs: the apple tree under the sea tour

Once upon a time, there was an artist named hemlocke springs who dared to create fantastical
worlds by weaving hyper-personal tales into exuberant, ’80s-inspired art-pop anthems. Now
residing in the faraway land of Los Angeles, the singer, songwriter, and producer born Isimeme
“Naomi” Udu was crowned a bedroom pop star in 2022 with her first songs ever “gimme all ur
luv” and “girlfriend,” released while in graduate school for health informatics. Bestowed with
early praise for those singles’ quirky melodies and bubblegum synths by DIY icons like Grimes
and Steve Lacy — and dubbed one of Chappell Roan’s favorite artists — she swiftly went on to
open for tours by fellow world-builders Doja Cat and Ashnikko (and shall sally forth with Conan
Gray next). And her era-transcending catalog continues to capture new fans, with DOECHII
going live on social media this year to walk her fans through “girlfriend,” saying, “This song is
not even of this time. It surpasses this time. It’s incredible ... She’s so good, she’s a rockstar, it’s
crazy.” But now, hemlocke pushes her whimsical work to new genre-defying heights, revealing
the next level of her theatrical artistry on her debut album, the apple tree under the sea.
The apple tree under the sea is a fever dream of a concept album in which our hero, hemlocke
springs, sets off on a journey of self-discovery — one that requires her to confront the chaos
and repression of her past in order to claim the full, liberatory life she once didn’t even know
was possible. Sprinkled with references to her Christian upbringing with Nigerian immigrant
parents, the project begins with her coming across a red apple — a symbol of knowledge or
“worldly” things, as hemlocke explains, and then tracks her inner transformation as she unpacks
the traumatic memories and longheld beliefs that held her back from self-acceptance.
“I grew up very religiously — Christianity is very pertinent in Nigerian culture and the Black
community — and I was also obedient to my elders,” hemlocke says of her childhood years in
Concord, North Carolina. “This album starts with a character going through the desert who says,
‘I’m going to do your will.’ They could be saying it to God or a man, but then they come across
the apple. It’s about me being in this bubble, and realizing that being in that bubble was tougher
than I thought, and then finally getting out and exploring who I really am.”
hemlocke set out to create a larger-than-life, style-tripping, medieval-coded project after making
the single “sever the blight,” where she sings of being locked in a basement longing for a lover
like a princess in a tower (“Love is miles away / Will I still wait here for you?”) while the beat
switches from baroque string plucks to driving ’80s synths. The song and its eye-popping video
inspired NME to write, “This is creativity of the highest order, with an attention to detail and
eccentricity few other new artists are doing in the pop space.” It fired up hemlock, too: “That
song inspired me to broaden my horizons with the album, to get out of my indie-pop comfort
zone and explore different genres. When I listened back, I felt transported to a new world.”
Accordingly, hemlocke displays her most adventurous songcraft and playful vocals yet while
co-producing the apple tree under the sea with close collaborator BURNS (Lady Gaga, Britney
Spears, Charli xcx). There are choral sections, glitchy electronics, ornate pianos, rock guitar,
Janet Jackson-esque drum breakdowns, and flourishes of strings and fairylike sonics — even
the sound of hooves hitting cobblestone. To illustrate the disorientation she felt while emerging
from her cocoon, she dramatically gasps and wails on songs such as “heads, shoulders, knees,

and ankles,” which was inspired by a formative nightmare of fighting off an attacker: “With all the
choler and vexation that he rankles / You’d think I’d have the strength to chop this little man!”
As hemlocke finally commits to biting the apple — “I took the wrong turn down to Hollywood
and now I’ll turn forever,” she sings over gothic drums on “(sense)is” — the album becomes a
confectionary explosion of electronica. She revels in her newfound sexual liberation over
squelching bubble sounds and sensual groove on “set me free,” and then declares on “be the
girl!” that she’ll never return to her past self. “It’s not exactly bittersweet — there’s a feeling of
euphoria,” Springs explains, “but the song also is saying that I’m still on this journey.”
The oldest song on the apple tree under the sea dates back to seven years ago, when springs
was getting her bachelor’s degree in biology at Spelman College. It was a completely different
experience from her sheltered early life, when she grew up listening to her parents’ gospel
music, singing in choir, and quietly learning how to make music on Garageband. Meeting new
people — of different backgrounds and sexualities — was eye-opening, she says: “It was a very
distinct switch from my upbringing, where I was banned from dating or having sleepovers.”
It was at Dartmouth, though, getting her master’s, that she began uploading the songs she’d
made in her free time — then quickly deleting them out of embarrassment. That is, until 2022,
when Grimes commented on “gimme all ur luv,” a self-production of glittery synths and yearning,
offbeat vocals praised for “bringing the fun back into pop” (FLOOD Magazine). Then hemlocke’s
effortlessly catchy second single, “girlfriend,” blew up on TikTok after she posted a teaser of her
dancing awkwardly to it while dressed as Dionne from the 1995 teen flick Clueless. A perfect
storm of nostalgia and endearing eccentricity, the song propelled her as an emerging artist who
would eventually garner acclaim for her ebullient, eclectic debut EP, Going...Going...Gone! As
Teen Vogue wrote, “Springs’ music is difficult to define, which, truthfully, is part of its undeniable
charm.” The project foreshadowed her ability to mine complicated emotions and the knack for
immersive experimentalism that she’s pushing to new heights on the apple tree under the sea.
“Music was always my escape, it was nice to create that world for myself,” hemlocke springs
says. Now with her debut LP, she’s fully writing her own story — dreaming up thrilling new
narratives for her life and art by bringing that apple into existence and taking a huge bite.