Get to know Tirzah, the singer making beautifully stark r'n'b

Getting out of your comfort zone is important, or so we’re told. But 30-year-old Tirzah Mastin is more than happy sticking with what she knows best.

“I enjoy what I’m doing with Mica so much that I don’t feel pushed to work with other people,” she says, going some way to explain why, apart from a guest appearance on a Tricky record a few years back, she’s only really worked with one other musician in 15 years. “Even when I’m with Mica it’s hard enough getting stuff out of me sometimes!” she laughs.

The Mica she talks of is Mica Levi (or Micachu), the multi-instrumentalist and singer who’s worked with Mount Kimbie and Matthew Herbert, scored the films Under The Skin and Jackie and has been Tirzah’s partner in crime since the pair’s schooldays.

Although the project bears Tirzah’s name, the vocalist sees the venture as a joint effort, one that’s been in the works since the pair started collaborating on music in their lunch breaks while studying at Watford’s Purcell School for Young Musicians
in their early teens. “We were lucky and had access to all of this music equipment in school,” she explains. “So we’d be in the music tech room every lunchtime from when we were fourteen.”