Once upon a time, there was an artist named hemlocke springs who dared to create fantastical worlds by weaving hyper-personal tales into exuberant, ’80s-inspired art-pop anthems. Now residing in the faraway land of Los Angeles, the singer, songwriter, and producer born Isimeme “Naomi” Udu was crowned a bedroom pop star in 2022 with her first songs ever, “gimme all ur luv” and “girlfriend,” released while she was in graduate school for health informatics.

Bestowed with early praise for those singles’ quirky melodies and bubblegum synths by DIY icons like Grimes and Steve Lacy — and dubbed one of Chappell Roan’s favorite artists — she swiftly went on to open for tours by fellow world-builders Doja Cat and Ashnikko, and is set to tour next with Conan Gray. Her era-transcending catalog continues to capture new fans, with Doechii going live on social media to walk her audience through “girlfriend,” saying, “This song is not even of this time. It surpasses this time. It’s incredible… She’s so good, she’s a rockstar, it’s crazy.”

Now, hemlocke pushes her whimsical work to new genre-defying heights, revealing the next level of her theatrical artistry on her debut album, the apple tree under the sea.

The apple tree under the sea is a fever-dream concept album in which our hero, hemlocke springs, sets off on a journey of self-discovery — one that requires her to confront the chaos and repression of her past in order to claim the full, liberatory life she once didn’t even know was possible. Sprinkled with references to her Christian upbringing with Nigerian immigrant parents, the project begins with her discovering a red apple — a symbol of knowledge or “worldly” things — and traces her inner transformation as she unpacks traumatic memories and long-held beliefs that prevented self-acceptance.

“I grew up very religiously — Christianity is very pertinent in Nigerian culture and the Black community — and I was obedient to my elders,” springs says of her childhood in Concord, North Carolina. “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, realizing that being in that bubble was tougher than I thought, and finally getting out and exploring who I really am.”

Hemlocke set out to create a larger-than-life, style-tripping, medieval-coded project after making the single “sever the blight,” where she sings of being locked in a basement longing for a lover like a princess in a tower, while the beat switches from baroque string plucks to driving ’80s synths. The song and its striking video inspired NME to write: “This is creativity of the highest order, with an attention to detail and eccentricity few other new artists are doing in the pop space.”

That track emboldened her to expand beyond her indie-pop comfort zone. “When I listened back, I felt transported to a new world,” she says.

Accordingly, hemlocke displays her most adventurous songwriting and playful vocals yet while co-producing the apple tree under the sea with close collaborator BURNS (Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Charli xcx). The album features choral sections, glitchy electronics, ornate piano passages, rock guitar, Janet Jackson–esque drum breakdowns, strings, fairy-like textures, and even the sound of hooves hitting cobblestone.

To convey the disorientation of emerging from her cocoon, she gasps and wails dramatically on songs like “heads, shoulders, knees, and ankles,” inspired by a formative nightmare of fighting off an attacker: “With all the choler and vexation that he rankles / You’d think I’d have the strength to chop this little man!”

As hemlocke commits to biting the apple — “I took the wrong turn down to Hollywood and now I’ll turn forever,” she sings on “(sense)is” — the album erupts into a confectionary explosion of electronica. She revels in sexual liberation on “set me free,” then declares on “be the girl!” that she will never return to her former self. “It’s not exactly bittersweet — there’s a feeling of euphoria,” she explains, “but the song also says I’m still on this journey.”

The oldest song on the album dates back seven years, to her time earning a bachelor’s degree in biology at Spelman College. That period marked a stark contrast to her sheltered upbringing, where she listened to gospel music, sang in choir, and taught herself music quietly on GarageBand. Exposure to people of different backgrounds and sexualities proved eye-opening. “I was banned from dating or having sleepovers,” she recalls.

It was during her master’s program at Dartmouth that she began uploading songs online — only to delete them shortly after out of embarrassment. That changed in 2022 when Grimes commented on “gimme all ur luv,” praised by FLOOD Magazine for “bringing the fun back into pop.” Soon after, “girlfriend” exploded on TikTok following a video of springs dancing awkwardly while dressed as Dionne from Clueless. The perfect blend of nostalgia and eccentricity propelled her rise, leading to her debut EP Going…Going…Gone!, which Teen Vogue described as difficult to define — “part of its undeniable charm.”

“Music was always my escape,” springs says. “It was nice to create that world for myself.” With her debut LP, she is now fully writing her own story — dreaming up thrilling new narratives by bringing that apple into existence and taking a huge bite.