PORTIA - SAVED (Single) + 10 Questions

Australian singer-songwriter and producer PORTIA releases debut single SAVED. A visceral, self-written and self-produced sonic dreamscape, SAVED is out now on all major streaming platforms.

A melancholic reflection on the seductive push and pull of toxic relationships, SAVED blends lush synth textures with commanding, centre-stage drums. Saturated with PORTIA’s signature vocal layering, the track brings a celestial new voice to the UK and Australian alternative R&B scenes.

SAVED was first teased during its early production stages on Instagram Stories and later debuted live at VFDalston, Boxpark, and AIDA Shoreditch. Speaking on the track, PORTIA shares: “I produced and wrote this in 2021, and it was the first track where I really saw myself and my sound come to life. It’s an acknowledgement of a part of myself I was really ashamed of for a long time: it’s easy to hurl blame at a partner, but sometimes I love to play games too.”

The release follows her well-received R&B reinterpretations of Tate McRae’s Revolving Door and Dylan Atlantis’ Thought You’d Know By Now, which have been gaining organic traction across SoundCloud and Instagram. SAVED also marks the first glimpse into her upcoming debut EP—an intimate, ethereal body of work set to release in 2025.

With SAVED, PORTIA makes a striking entrance—confessional, experimental, and unmistakably her own.

PORTIA sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:

1. So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for music?

I guess my first musical memories are of my Mum playing music around the house: a lot of Alicia Keys, Coldplay, and Angus & Julia Stone. I played violin growing up, and I used to sing all the time. Me and my childhood best friend were always making up songs and performing for our families. We wrote and performed a whole hour-long musical when we were eight, with my sister and another friend. I did a solo rendition of ‘Defying Gravity’. I also have a distinct memory of performing a Lady Gaga melody in my primary school talent show – Judas, Edge of Glory, and Bad Romance. I was a dramatic child.

When I first got Spotify in 2014 or so, I would spend hours exploring and making playlists. I listened to a lot of Drake, Sabrina Claudio, Ta-ku, Jhené Aiko, Frank Ocean, Flume, Grimes, JOYm, Allday, Tinashe. I don’t think the idea of actually making my own music was on my radar until much later though. I sort of tinkered on the guitar for a couple of years around eighteen and nineteen, making shitty Garageband demos. I started taking them to producers, but I struggled to articulate what I wanted, so in the first lockdown in 2020 I just thought ‘fuck it, let me do this myself’, and I downloaded Ableton. I taught myself how to produce, and then I started sending beats out to artists and posting them on my YouTube, all whilst slowly working on my own stuff. Fast forward 4-5 years and we’re here.

2. Who are some artists that influence you and that you want to work with in the future?

These past few years, I've been all about Qendresa, Ojerime, Rowena Fysx, Naomi Sharon, kwn, Sasha Keable, Destin Conrad. I think Rubii is sick. Caroline Polachek, Kelela, Oklou, Aaron May, Erika De Casier, George Riley, Maina Doe, Mk.gee, ELIZA. So, mostly on the fringe of R&B and neo-soul.

3. What projects do you have coming up and can you give us any info on them?

My debut EP is coming out sometime over the next few months. I might drop a single before then.

The EP is a collection of tracks I wrote over 2021-2023 when I was first figuring music out - learning how to produce and how to translate specific feelings and moments in time into sound. The tracks capture a really important and beautiful point in my life, where I was grappling with certain emotions and situations for the first time, alongside finding my voice musically. Listening to this project gives me the same feeling as looking back on old photos or diary entries. It’s my coming-of-age wrapped up in seven tracks. 

The EP shares all the lessons I learned about love through the first few years of my twenties: mostly romantic, but also familial and platonic. The project is about disconnection, the value of vulnerability and holding ourselves accountable, and the difficulty of letting go and finding our own closure.

I let these songs marinate on my hard drive for years, but they deserve to see the light of day.

4. How would you describe your sound?

R&B from outer space. It's futuristic and spacious but has a foundation in R&B voicings and lots of vocal layering. I’d say it’s warm, intimate, introspective, a little poisonous. Some of my tracks are like a hug from someone special, and others are like being held at arm’s length by someone you want to be closer to.

5. What's your proudest moment to date so far as an artist?

Up until mid or even late 2024, I didn't think I would ever find the confidence to put my music out into the world. I fantasised about it all the time, walking around Sydney and, later, London with my demos on repeat, knowing they had a place somewhere in the world. Putting out my first single ‘SAVED’ was a big moment, but I don’t know if it’s necessarily my proudest.

Honestly, this question makes me think of those small moments I’ve had on my own, listening back to tracks that I’ve recorded and being so in awe of the fact I’ve been able to make an idea come to life. It’s a big deal, creating something out of nothing: it’s like alchemy. I have an unreleased track called ‘Know Better’ that blows my mind every time I hear it. I’m pretty proud of that one.

6. Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?

I don’t like to think of it as a game. Obviously, music is an industry, and it’s become so commodified. Streaming has done a lot of damage, and I think AI is about to take us on a completely different rollercoaster. Maybe it’s a little defeatist, but it’s easier for me to not think about any of that stuff: I’m not interested in playing any numbers game, or any social media game either. I just focus on my art and building my world - it’ll go where it’s meant to.

7. Are there any artists on your radar right now that we should check out?

I have to speak on Australia’s alt-R&B scene: CD, Maina Doe, and Dylan Atlantis, again and again and again. And JOY.- she’s an amazing producer and singer; her song ‘Captured’ was one of the most important songs of my teens. Otherwise: Lollie, Saskia, Monét, Nicki Knightz, BINA.

8. What albums are on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?

This year: MUTT by Leon Thomas, Londra and Midnight Request Line by Qendresa, SUBMISSIVE2 by Destin Conrad, Obsidian by Naomi Sharon, Raven by Kelela, Two Star by Mk.gee. And Mac Miller always: The Divine Feminine, GOOD:AM, and Swimming in particular.

9. What do you like to do when you're not making music?

I’m not the best when it comes to spare time. Life's been super busy recently, so my routine has been a bit out of whack, but generally I like to spend a lot of time alone in my room. I find a lot of peace and stability in routine and solitude. Aspirationally, I'm a reader. I love going to gigs and the movies, and out to eat.

10. Name Three things you can't live without when in the studio?

I'm a big snacker, so lots of snacks. I'll always have some really weird rotation of whatever I've found in the corner shop. A big bottle of water too. I’m a Taurus - gotta be fed and watered at all times. And a big feeling; something deep, confusing and borderline all-consuming I can pull from.