Hemlocke Springs announces debut album ‘The Apple Tree Under The Sea’, releases zany new single ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Ankles’

Hemlocke Springs has announced her debut album ‘The Apple Tree Under The Sea’.

The North Carolina alt-pop sensation and former NME Cover star is set to release her debut album on February 13 via AWAL – pre-save/pre-order here.

Following her support slots with Conan Gray and Chappell Roan, Springs’ debut album is said to confront her traumatic memories and religious upbringing on her path to 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,” Springs explained. “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.”

To celebrate, Springs has released a brand new single from the album ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Ankles’ – listen to it down below:

We spoke to Hemlocke Springs back in 2023 around her debut EP, ‘going…going…GONE!’, and she spoke about creating the EP – and where she was headed next.

“I started in this little, quiet bedroom pop world, and I wanted to finish the EP correctly so at least I can move onto the next world with an open mind and more experience,” she told us. “I want to be more assured of what I want to do. The vision for the album is there, but I’m personally not there yet. I’m still the person in my room on my computer.”

She was also one of the four artists spotlighted by Chappell Roan in her clapback against a Hollywood Reporter op-ed. 

The singer drew criticism from a column written by Jeffrey Rabhan – a longtime music executive and former Chair of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute – on the website. He criticised the former NME Cover star for her “misguided” and “uninformed” speech calling out the music industry while collecting her first Grammy.

During her speech, Roan “demanded that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a liveable wage and health care, especially developing artists.”

In response, Roan posted a screenshot of the op-ed in which Rabhan claimed Roan is “no longer a struggling artist” and should “do something about” the wealth disparity “rather than talk about it”.

The popstar then challenged Rabhan to match her $25,000 donation to “struggling, dropped artists”, then shared the Spotify pages of Springs, Sarah Kinsley, Devon Again and Baby Storme, citing them as “artists that deserve more love and a bigger platform.”