Despite her youthful years, Ellen Beth Abdi has been a familiar voice in Manchester’s music scene, collaborating with acts like A Certain Ratio and New Order. But now, she’s stepping into the spotlight with Tenterhooks, her debut single’s a track that distills everyday anxieties into something urgent and universal.
A song years in the making, Tenterhooks started as a riff that lodged itself in Abdi’s mind one morning. ‘I woke up, and it was just there, she recalls. At first, I thought it was going to be a hip-hop track, just because of how the rhythm sat. But then I recorded a demo on my Casio keyboard, and it slowly developed with the band.’
Lyrically, the song captures the all-too-familiar feeling of waiting for a reply how a simple text message can spiral into a full-blown emotional crisis. It’s such a small, everyday thing, but it can completely take over your mind, she says. That feeling of suspense, like you’re caught in limbo, is what Tenterhooks is about.
Despite its significance, the title itself never appears in the lyrics. Instead, Abdi found inspiration in its literal origins. Tenterhooks were actually these metal hooks used in old textile mills to stretch out wool and cotton, she explains. That connection to tension, to being pulled tight and left hanging, just made perfect sense. It was a happy accident – tick, tick, tick!
Abdi’s songwriting is deeply personal, though she prefers to approach emotions in fragments, breaking them down into something almost abstract. ‘I always write from experience, but I don’t like to be too on-the-nose about it, she says. ‘I love playing with phrases, flipping them on their head, finding unexpected ways to say something’.
Her love for language stems from her background as an avid reader. ‘I think that’s why I’m drawn to metaphor’, she muses. There are so many ways to tell a story beyond just laying it out directly. Tenterhooks is a great example – it’s a simple feeling, but the way it’s expressed makes it something else entirely’.
When it comes to writing, Abdi embraces a fluid approach.
“Every song is different,” she says. “Sometimes a melody or a line pops into my head, sometimes I’ll use my loop pedal as a recording tool. I’m really melody-orientated—I think every part of a song is a melody, even the drumbeat. Everything has equal standing.”
While some artists tweak their songs endlessly, Abdi often finds that her best work comes together in a single burst. “The best songs I’ve written have all kind of happened in one go,” she explains. That said, she acknowledges the ever-evolving nature of music: “You never really stop writing a song. You can perform it for years, and every iteration of it becomes something new in your head.”
Abdi’s music blends elements of soul, funk, jazz, and pop—but she resists being boxed in.
“People love to categorize you, and you need to be packaged up and sold if you want to make money. I get it. But I don’t want to be shoved into the ‘neo-soul’ box just because my voice is soulful. The arrangements, the moods, the content—it’s more than that. I call it ‘wonky soul-infused pop.’ Pop is a big umbrella, and that feels like the safest bet.”
She also has mixed feelings about the way genres are used: “I love genre names, but I think the over-classification of music can be elitist. Like, ‘sub-techno-Berlin-industrial’—are you just saying that to sound cool? Can’t we just enjoy music?”
Abdi’s first brush with Manchester’s musical greats came when she was a student at RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music).
“They put out a call for keys players to work with an electronic band from Manchester. They didn’t say who. I signed up, and none of my mates had seen it, so I forwarded it to about ten of them. I thought it might be someone like Elbow.”
When she arrived for rehearsals, the mystery was revealed. “Stephen Morris was setting up ten computers, and my friend and I just looked at each other like, ‘Oh my God.’”
That gig led to more, including shows with New Order in Austria and Italy. “We were 18, getting 50-euro per diems, staying in swanky hotels, drinking champagne at breakfast. We were loving it. And I think New Order loved it too—we were so excited to be there, and it gave them a new energy.”
Another defining moment in Abdi’s career came when she joined A Certain Ratio. She was initially introduced to the band through her friend Denise Johnson, a Manchester music legend and longtime vocalist for the group. After Johnson’s passing, A Certain Ratio reached out to Abdi about recording with them.
“The first tune we did together was ‘Afro Dizzy.’ Then they had some festivals booked and asked if I wanted to join them for We Out Here—Main Stage, Sunday night. I felt like I was going to throw up.”
Stepping into Johnson’s role was daunting, but Abdi was determined to do it justice. “You can’t replace Denise. No one ever will. But I wanted to honor her legacy while still being myself.”
Since then, A Certain Ratio has become like family to her. “They’ve been my biggest cheerleaders. The relationship is so symbiotic—whether we’re writing together or touring, there’s so much laughter. It’s just pure joy.”
With Tenterhooks, Ellen Beth Abdi makes a striking entrance as a solo artist, balancing sharp lyrical insight with a distinctive sonic identity. As she continues to refine her sound, this is only the beginning.
