salem ilese

salem ilese first presented her dance-pop sound, marked by relational frustrations, via the 2019 EP 757 issued under her given names. The following year brought widespread attention to the track “Mad at Disney,” which spread rapidly through social platforms and entered pop rankings worldwide. Subsequent releases arrived at a consistent pace, among them a 2022 remix of “PS5” featuring TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Alan Walker that surpassed one hundred million streams. Her initial full-length project, high concept, followed in 2023.

Los Angeles native Salem Ilese Davern has sung for as long as she recalls, beginning formal songwriting study at age ten and refining her craft across the ensuing ten years, a period that included time at the Berklee College of Music. Among her earliest outputs, the 2018 single “Impatient” received a dedicated remix EP the next year and also appeared on 757 that June.

Issued in July 2020, “Mad at Disney” emerged from a co-writing session with Bendik Møller and Jason Hahs after the 2019 wave of Disney live-action remakes; Møller and Hahs handled production. The song gained viral traction on social media the next month, logging over a million daily streams by mid-September and reaching the top 50 in Australia, Norway, and Ireland while peaking at number 82 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100. Remaining 2020 singles included “Coke & Mentos” and “Marry Christmas.”

The ensuing twelve months proved active, opening with the Alan Walker collaboration “Fake a Smile” and the May arrival of the Homemade Projects/10K Projects EP (L)only Child. A duet with Jamie Miller, “Here’s Your Perfect,” surfaced on Atlantic later that summer, followed by brand-inspired tracks “Ben & Jerry” and “Hey Siri.” “Intuition” then landed on the Blade Runner Black Lotus animated-series soundtrack. Mid-2022 delivered her strongest streaming success since “Mad at Disney” with the TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Alan Walker remix of “PS5.” Additional 2022 titles comprised “Married to Your Melody” alongside Imanbek and “Crypto Boy,” several of which joined an expanded edition of the October collection Unsponsored Content. Before year’s end she also issued the Secret Santa holiday EP and a “Mad at SCOTUS Version” of “Mad at Disney.” During this span she contributed songwriting to tracks for Demi Lovato (“Holy Fvck”), Pussy Riot (“Princess Charming”), and Taeyeon (“Toddler”).

February 2023 saw the Mike Posner duet “Howling at the Moon,” after which further singles paved the way for the September 10K Projects release of her debut album, high concept, featuring production work from the Band Camino’s Spencer Stewart.