There’s a force to Heidi Curtis that feels increasingly difficult to ignore. On new single “Summon”, the Newcastle songwriter steps into something bigger, bolder and more unguarded - a lung-bursting indie-rock anthem that feels built for the moment just before fear turns into action.
Released alongside the announcement of her forthcoming Summon EP, set for release on 20th November via AWAL, the track arrives after a huge summer for Curtis. Having recently supported the likes of Florence + The Machine, Lewis Capaldi, Self Esteem, Mumford & Sons, The War On Drugs, Rachel Chinouriri and Wunderhorse, she returns with a song that doesn’t simply continue her momentum - it raises the stakes.
“Summon” is a song about courage, but not the neat, cinematic version. It’s about the strength you have to pull from somewhere deeper when a situation intimidates you; the decision to be louder, grander and less apologetic than the world might expect. Curtis has described the track as “a totem of strength and resilience”, explaining that writing it reminded her not to be afraid of creating music that was “ferocious”. You can hear that realisation in every part of the song.
There’s always been a widescreen drama to Curtis’ writing, but “Summon” feels like a breakthrough in scale. It carries the romance and grandeur that has drawn comparisons to Fleetwood Mac and Florence + The Machine, but there’s also something unmistakably rooted in the North East: grit, emotional directness and a refusal to soften the edges too much. It’s commanding without becoming polished beyond recognition, powerful without losing its human centre.
That balance is exactly what makes Curtis such an exciting artist. Her music feels theatrical, but never detached. It reaches for something enormous, yet still sounds like it has been written from a very real place. On “Summon”, she doesn’t hide behind mystique or mood alone. Instead, she turns uncertainty into fuel, creating a song that feels both deeply personal and instantly communal.
The wider world is beginning to catch up. With praise from NME, DIY, Rolling Stone UK, Dork, The Line Of Best Fit, Guitar and Wonderland, plus BBC Introducing recognition on Radio 1’s Need To Know and regular BBC 6 Music support, Curtis is quickly becoming one of the North East’s most compelling new voices. Wonderland has already called her “the latest Geordie set to make an impact on the wider British scene”, and it’s becoming harder to argue with that trajectory.
What feels most exciting, though, is that “Summon” still sounds like an artist in motion rather than one resting on early acclaim. There’s a sense of arrival here, but also of ignition - a feeling that Curtis is discovering just how much space her songs can occupy.
That makes her upcoming hometown show feel even more significant. Heidi Curtis plays a sold-out show at The Grove, Newcastle on 21st October as part of her debut UK headline tour, a moment that feels less like a homecoming and more like a marker of what’s already beginning to happen.
“Summon” doesn’t ask for attention politely.
It calls it into the room.
