Biography
Songwriter hemlocke springs first attracted widespread notice through her distinctive raspy delivery and off-kilter, lo-fi approach to synthesizer pop on the self-released tracks that initially spread online. Within weeks of its 2022 appearance her debut single “gimme all ur luv” surpassed one million streams, yet an even stronger viral response greeted the later anxiety-driven single “girlfriend.” Still enrolled in medical studies at the time, she extended that momentum the following year with material such as “stranger danger!,” which leaned further into shadowy new wave and post-punk textures, before issuing her debut EP going...going...GONE! in September 2023.
Isimeme “Naomi” Udu adopted the alias hemlocke springs after feeding words into a random-name generator, a method also employed by Childish Gambino, Post Malone, and Jay Som; she modified the spelling of “hemlock” to honor Lorde. While completing her undergraduate years she occasionally uploaded original songs only to delete them amid recurring doubts. After receiving a biology degree from Spelman College in 2021 she entered Dartmouth’s postgraduate medical program, where “gimme all ur luv” quietly gained traction online by mid-2022. Tens of thousands of TikTok shares propelled the quirkier follow-up “girlfriend,” whose full version and accompanying homemade VHS-styled clip reached streaming services in November 2022, drawing attention from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and NME. Concentrating on her expanding music path, hemlocke springs reinforced the turn-of-the-’80s new wave and post-punk elements on 2023 releases including “stranger danger!” and “sever the blight.” The September arrival of going...going...GONE! gathered her first two singles alongside further tracks such as “enknee1.”
Isimeme “Naomi” Udu adopted the alias hemlocke springs after feeding words into a random-name generator, a method also employed by Childish Gambino, Post Malone, and Jay Som; she modified the spelling of “hemlock” to honor Lorde. While completing her undergraduate years she occasionally uploaded original songs only to delete them amid recurring doubts. After receiving a biology degree from Spelman College in 2021 she entered Dartmouth’s postgraduate medical program, where “gimme all ur luv” quietly gained traction online by mid-2022. Tens of thousands of TikTok shares propelled the quirkier follow-up “girlfriend,” whose full version and accompanying homemade VHS-styled clip reached streaming services in November 2022, drawing attention from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and NME. Concentrating on her expanding music path, hemlocke springs reinforced the turn-of-the-’80s new wave and post-punk elements on 2023 releases including “stranger danger!” and “sever the blight.” The September arrival of going...going...GONE! gathered her first two singles alongside further tracks such as “enknee1.”
Albums
Singles
