Dreams do come true

Imagine if you uploaded a few videos of yourself singing to Youtube, then got signed to the same record label as Hawaiian surf rocker Jack Johnson. This improbable situation is exactly what happened with rising star Zee Avi.

Born on the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo, Avi grew up in a musical household. At 12, she moved to Kuala Lumpur, and started playing guitar at the age of 17. She played at a few gigs before moving to London to study fashion design. When she returned to Kuala Lumpur, she joined a band.

When a friend of hers missed one of her shows, he asked her to post a video on Youtube. Though Avi was initially going to take it down after he'd seen it, her friend convinced her to leave it up. She received so much positive feedback from viewers, she was encouraged to record more videos. In a very short space of time, she had amassed a following of several thousand Youtubers.

As her internet fame spread, she caught the attention of Raconteurs drummer Patrick Keeler. Keeler contacted his manager Ian Montone and showed him Avi's videos. Montone, who owns Monotone Records, home to famous artists including The Shins and M.I.A., contacted Avi, offering to release her songs on his record label.

Avi was flown to Los Angeles to record her self-titled album and, as she put it, 'jumped straight into the singer-songwriter scene'. Drawing influences from both jazz and rock, from greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and the Beatles, Avi's music is diverse and varied, and her distinctive voice is not one you'd imagine coming from a petite girl from Malaysia.

Reminiscent of jazz's heyday, her songs tell sad tales of romance and love. First single Bitter Heart, which Avi admits to writing 'with a bit of poetic licence', is the story of a woman who has been cheated on by her significant other, and the lyrics evoke her frustration. The simplicity of the acoustic instrumentation only adds to the bittersweet atmosphere.