Kelly Lee Owens (born 24 August 1988) is a Welsh electronic musician and producer. She released her self-titled debut album in March 2017 to critical praise. Her sophomore album, Inner Song, was released in August 2020, followed by LP.8 in April 2022 and Dreamstate in October 2024.
Early life Owens was born on 24 August 1988 in Rhuddlan, Clwyd, on the North Wales coast. Owens recalls writing poetry as a child and that being out in nature (in her mother's fields) gave her the time and the solitude to write. As a teenager, she sang in her school choir and played bass and drums.
Owens grew up in a nearby small village where, she describes, "everyone knows everyone else." She began working at 14 as a waitress and spent her teenage years "involved in the 2006/2007 indie scene".
At age 19, Owens moved from Wales to Manchester to work at a cancer treatment hospital. While working as an auxiliary nurse, Owens would use her paid leave to help run local indie festivals. It was the patients who would ultimately urge her to pursue her music career.
Career Owens left her career as an auxiliary nurse in a cancer ward in Manchester to pursue music in 2009. After moving to London, she interned at XL Recordings and worked at various record stores including Pure Groove. During that time, Owens played bass in the indie band The History of Apple Pie.
It was during those early days in London that Owens met Daniel Avery, James Greenwood (aka "Ghost Culture"), and Erol Alkan. Avery and Greenwood, with whom she manned the counter at the now-closed Pure Groove, brought her into the studio and introduced her to production software, and Greenwood offered to be her sound engineer. Avery would later invite her to collaborate on his 2013 album Drone Logic. Owens released the Oleic EP a year later, in 2016.
Her eponymous album, Kelly Lee Owens, was released in March 2017 by the Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound. Later in 2017, she released a bonus cut from her album titled "Spaces". The second track on Kelly Lee Owens, "Arthur", is a tribute to the late Arthur Russell; was used by the British luxury fashion house Alexander McQueen for their Fall 2016 runway show prior to the release of the studio album. Avery has a co-writer credit on "Keep Walking", and Jenny Hval appears on "Anxi".
Owens has collaborated with St. Vincent, having remixed her single "New York", from the album Masseduction. She also collaborated with Björk on her EP dedicated to remixes of "Arisen My Senses" from her album Utopia, and Welsh-born John Cale on the track "Corner of my Sky", from her album Inner Song.
Owens' music has been described as dream pop and techno pop, and has been compared to the work of Arthur Russell. She has expressed interest in the connection between healing and music. In 2017, she told Pitchfork that she was considering an exhibition on the “relationship between sound, healing, and resonant frequencies." She has stated that she enjoys sampling music on her iPhone. On 24 March 2020 Owens announced that her second album, Inner Song, would be released on 28 August.
On 28 October 2021, Owens released "Unity", the theme song for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the same day as the unveiling of the event's official emblem and slogan: "Beyond Greatness".
Owens announced in late March 2022 that her third studio album, LP.8, would be released digitally on 29 April and in physical formats on 10 June. She co-produced the album with noise artist Lasse Marhaug.
In 2023, Owens supported Depeche Mode on their North American Memento Mori tour.
In 2024, Owens signed to Dirty Hit's electronic music imprint, dh2. On 11 July 2024, she released her first single under the label, "Love You Got", along with the announcement of her album Dreamstate.
Personal life Owens currently lives in London. She can read and write Welsh, although she describes herself as "not fluent".
Discography
Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, showing other relevant details Title Details Peak chart positions UK UKDance UKIndie SCO Kelly Lee Owens Released: 24 November 2017 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: LP, CD, LP+CD, digital download, streaming – – – – Inner Song Released: 28 August 2020 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: 2LP, CD, digital download, streaming 80 3 6 44 LP.8 Released: 29 April 2022 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: LP, CD, digital download, streaming – – 7 37 Dreamstate Released: 18 October 2024 Label: dh2 Formats: LP, CD, digital download, streaming – 2 5 25
Remix albums Title Details Inner Song Remix Series Released: 28 May 2021 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: Digital download, streaming
Extended plays + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, showing other relevant details Title Details Peak chart positions UKPhys.Peak Positions for: Oleic: Inner Song Remix EPs: Oleic Released: 21 October 2016 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: 12-inch, CD, digital download, streaming 88 On Released: 24 June 2020 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: 12-inch, digital download, streaming – Inner Song Remixes Part 1 Released: 8 October 2021 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: 12-inch, digital download, streaming 21 Inner Song Remixes Part 2 Released: 8 October 2021 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: 12-inch, digital download, streaming 20 LP.8.2 Released: 1 December 2022 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: 12-inch, digital download, streaming – Kelly Released: 21 November 2025 Label: d2h Formats: digital download, streaming –
DJ mixes Title Details"Early Hours"Released: 30 May 2021 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: Streaming"Mixmag: Kelly Lee Owens in The Lab, London, 2020"Released: 16 July 2021 Label: Smalltown Supersound Formats: Streaming
Singles As lead artist + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, showing other relevant details Title Year Peak chart positions Album UKPhys.Peak positions for:
"More Than a Woman": "Let It Go": "Melt!": "Luminous Spaces": "Lucid"2014 –Kelly Lee Owens"Uncertain"2015 –"Cbm"2016 –"1 of 3" –"Anxi."2017 –"Lucid" –"More Than a Woman"41"Bird"2018 –Kelly Lee Owens"Luminous Spaces"2019 5rowspan="2" "Let It Go" 35"Melt!"2020 12Inner Song"Night" –"On" –"Corner of My Sky –"Jeanette" –"Unity"2021 –rowspan="3" "Spirographs"2022 –"To Feel Again/Trois" –"Love You Got"2024 –Dreamstate"Sunshine" –"Higher" –"Ballad (In The End)" –"Ascend"2025 –Kelly"132 Techno" –
As featured artist Title Year Album"Noshi"2015
Remixes + List of remixes for other artists Title Year Artist Album"Kingsize"(Kelly Lee Owens Rework)2015 Jenny Hval rowspan="5" "You Look Certain(I'm Not So Sure)" (Kelly Lee Owens Rework)2017 Mount Kimbie"New York" (Kelly Lee Owens Remix)2018 St. Vincent"Arisen My Senses" (Kelly Lee Owens Remix) Björk"Mirror" (Kelly Lee Owens Remix)2021 Sigrid"It's All So Incredibly Loud" (Kelly Lee Owens Remix)2022 Glass Animals Dreamland (Real Life Edition)
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