Rachel Chinouriri’s success has been a slow burn. She prefers it that way

6

When Rachel Chinouriri played London's O2 Arena last month, she cried.

The new wave indie songwriter was there as the support act for Sabrina Carpenter, just a week after her first Brit Awards, where she was nominated for artist of the year.

Seven years after her debut single, those milestones felt like a validation.

No wonder she shed a tear.

"A lot of it was stress relief," says the 26-year-old, "but I also felt strangely at home.

"I was just like, 'Wow, is this my life'."

Chinouriri was booked for the tour after Carpenter fell in love with her song All I Ever Asked and started playing it as her walk-on music in the US.

We speak on the 14th date, as she prepares to play Assago, Italy. By this point, she's having a blast – bounding across the catwalk every night, and dropping to her knees between songs to talk to the audience at eye level.

But she admits the first couple of shows were "slightly rough".

"I filmed Graham Norton for the first time on Friday, then it was the Brit Awards on Saturday. The tour started in Dublin on Monday, and I had to film a music video on my day off."

"I was having a lot of first time experiences and trying to figure out what I was comfortable with on the road," she says.

"I'd say from show five, I was starting to enjoy myself."

If there were nerves, they didn't show.

The singer's infectious energy and knotty pop-rock songs have been picking up new fans in every city. One reviewer called her set "the perfect sweet treat before the main feast". At the end of March, she surpassed 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify for the first time. Adele sent her a bouquet of roses.

Rachel Chinouriri is officially having a moment – but it hasn't come quickly.

Original Article