Sade Olutola explained how Ed Sheeran inspired her ‘Arrow Heart’ EP during an interview backstage at Reading 2026.
The rising south London pop artist made her first appearance at the festival earlier today (August 29), performing on The Canopy stage.
Afterwards, she joined NME backstage to discuss her first EP, which was released in February. The concept for ‘Arrow Heart’ came from an idea she had as an 11-year-old in her “Ed Sheeran phase” – something she laughed about when reminded of it.
“When I was 11, I discovered Ed Sheeran – my friend Ella put me on,” Olutola said. “When he toured, he would draw the icon of what he was trying to do – like a plus sign on his guitar or a divide or multiply. Then he would also name his guitar. So I did the same thing, but I was like, ‘I need to come up with my own cool version.’
“So I drew an arrow heart on my guitar, and I called her Mexi, and I wrote a tracklist – it was at the top of my songwriting book, and it was called ‘Arrow Heart’. [Now], I thought, ‘Oh, I’m releasing my first EP now and I want to pay homage to her’. That was the first time I had been ambitious to want to put out a project, even though it didn’t happen [at the time].”
Olutola also explained the story behind the EP’s opening track ‘2099’, which finds her time travelling from 1625 to 2099 in the lyrics. “That song makes no sense,” she laughed before explaining the story behind it. “When I’m writing songs, I translate my emotions into pictures and imagery. Right in that moment, I had just found out that my partner had been unfaithful to me, so I was feeling very angry.
“I associated that anger with fire, and then I was like, ‘Oh, if it was the 1600s, they would burn me like a witch because I’m so mad that I want to kill everyone.’ It’s so dramatic; I don’t know why I did that. Anyway, I wrote that verse, and then I was like, ‘Hmm, we’ve gone in the past; let’s go to the future now.’ And then it was like, if it was 2099, I would still be really mad.”
Aside from making her debut Reading appearance, Olutola has had a packed summer on the stage. Sharing what she’s realised from festival season so far, she said: “It’s interesting the amount of preparation that goes into this, and then I’ve done a 20-to-30 minute set, and it’s over. It’s like, ‘OK, we go home now, but it’s really stressful before that.’ I’ve grown to appreciate my team a lot more.”
The emerging artist also opened for Lexa Gates at KOKO and Fousheé as part of Harry Styles’ Meltdown this summer. “I am the biggest Lexa Gates fan. Me and my producer bonded over our love for Lexa Gates,” she revealed. “I love Fousheé. I’m just excited. I feel like I’m a little girl just living out her dream. My inner child is happy.”
Olutola performed her debut headline show at London’s The Grace in June – something she said “meant the world to” her: “These were hard tickets – everybody there, I knew that they came specifically to see me. I was just so grateful for that, and honestly, in disbelief that it sold out. I didn’t expect that. Tears were shed, but I was very happy.”
She continued to explain that she treats the audience in front of her the same regardless of whether she’s headlining, opening for another act, or performing at a festival. “I always treat everybody like they don’t know me,” she said. “Because I’m used to having that mindset of, ‘Nobody here knows me’, I’m always trying to think about the most entertaining thing I could do, like crowd interactions and stuff. So I bring that over into my own shows.”
Reading 2026 continues today with performances from Dave, Raye, Gunna, Viagra Boys, Sombr, Jade, Radio Free Alice and more.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Reading & Leeds 2026.
