Alexandra Lilah Denton (also known as Aleksandra Lilah Yakunina-Denton, born 17 June 1988), known professionally as Shura, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. She is known for her work in the genres of

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

and

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

, but has reached into other forms of pop, like indie and folk.

Career

2011–2016: ''Nothing's Real''

During night shifts at her workplace (a video editing facility), she watched YouTube tutorial videos on how to use music production software. Her single "

Touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...

", co-produced with Joel Pott of Athlete, drew positive notice from internet blogs during early 2014; its music video was co-directed and edited by Shura herself. Two other singles, "Just Once" and "Indecision", followed the same year, and Shura produced a remix of Jessie Ware's single " Say You Love Me". Shura was longlisted in the BBC Sound of 2015 poll. Shura is also signed to Universal Music Publishing Group in the United Kingdom. She released the single "2Shy" in March 2015, followed by "White Light" and a performance film titled ''Three Years'' in June 2015. An EP titled ''White Light'' was released in the United States in July. The same year, Shura performed at music festivals including Bestival, Festival N°6, and

Latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

. In December 2014 she was named as one of the nominated acts on the longlist for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

music poll Sound of 2015. Mumford & Sons have covered her song "2Shy". Shura's "Touch" was released on 18 February 2016 alongside a version featuring Talib Kweli. The Original Mix was released on Record Store Day 2016 as a limited 12" single featuring remixes from Canvas and Delorean. Her debut album '' Nothing's Real'' was released on 8 July 2016 via

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

2017–present: ''forevher''

In 2018, she was reported working in the studio on new music with frequent collaborator Joel Pott, as well as Tourist and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. In 2019, she made a comeback after three years of silence, when she collaborated with British musician Tourist on the song "Love Theme", which was released on Valentine's Day through his second album ''Everyday''. Tourist explained that the song was a concept originally written by Shura and had a piano demo that was sent to him by her with the lyrics "I don't want to be the centre of attention, but I want your love". The following month, Shura announced her comeback single, entitled "BKLYNLDN", alternatively titled "Brooklyn London". It was premiered by Phil Taggart on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

on 10 March 2019 where it was revealed as the "Chillest Record". Shura's album ''Forevher'' was released on 16 August 2019 via Secretly Canadian. Shura announced the album on 12 June 2019 with the release of single "Religion (U Can Lay Your Hands on Me)". In a November 2019 interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', former

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

member Melanie C revealed that she has been working on her eighth studio album with Shura. On 16 March 2020, Shura released the single "elevator girl" featuring the Philadelphia rapper Ivy Sole. She released an alternate version titled "elevator girl (Space Tape Edit)" on 22 May 2020. On 19 July 2023, Shura was featured on the single "Call Me A Lioness", released in celebration of the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

. The single also featured Olivia Dean, Melanie C, Marika Hackman among others. Shura released her third studio album, '' I Got Too Sad for My Friends'', via Play It Again Sam, on 30 May 2025.

Personal life

Shura was born in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, London, and grew up in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Her mother is Russian actress Valentina Yakunina and her father is English documentary filmmaker Richard Denton. Her parents divorced when she was three. Shura has two brothers, including a twin, Nicholas, who has starred in three of her music videos: "

", "White Light" and "What's It Gonna Be?". She began playing the guitar when she was 13 years old and started recording music at 16. Shura had been a promising footballer in her youth and played for Manchester City from under 11 to under 16 level, despite being a

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

fan. Shura is an out

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and an atheist, despite a long-standing fascination with religion. In summer 2014 she experienced a severe panic attack, which she described as "feel nglike I asdying." Her stage name comes from a short form of her first name in Russian, a language Shura is fluent in.

Artistry

Shura's music has been described as "infectious but melancholy electropop" as well as "slow-burning synth-pop" but has said that pop music "didn't represent" her. The singer has said that "missed opportunity, regret, nostalgia" are some of the main themes in her work.

Awards and nominations

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result !! Ref. , - , 2016 , Popjustice £20 Music Prize , "What's It Gonna Be?" , Best British Pop Single , , , - , rowspan=3, 2019 , Music Producers Guild Awards , Herself , Remixer of the Year , , , - , UK Music Video Awards , "Religion" , Best Pop Video - Newcomer , , , - , Best Art Vinyl , '' Forevher'' , Best Vinyl Art , ,

Music videos

* "Touch" (2014) *"Indecision" (2015) *"2Shy" (2015) *"White Light" (2015) * "White Light (Extended Video)" (2015) * "What's It Gonna Be?" (2016) *"311215" (2016) *"BKLYNLDN" (2019) *"religion (u can lay your hands on me)" (2019) * "religion (u can lay your hands on me) (Vertical Video)" (2019) * "obsession" (2021)

Discography

Albums

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" , - ! scope="col" rowspan="2", Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2", Details ! scope="col" colspan="7", Peak chart positions , - ! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;", UK
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;", BEL
(FL)
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(WA)
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, - ! scope="row", '' Nothing's Real'' , * Released: 8 July 2016 * Label:

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

* Format: CD, LP, digital download , 13 , , 73 , , 130 , , 73 , , 15 , , 35 , , 12 , - ! scope="row", '' Forevher'' , * Released: 16 August 2019 * Label: Secretly Canadian * Format: CD, LP, digital download,

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, 61 , , — , , — , , — , , 32 , , — , , 18 , - ! scope="row", '' I Got Too Sad for My Friends'' , * Released: 30 May 2025 * Label: PIAS * Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming , — , , — , , — , , — , , 90 , , — , , —

Singles

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" , - ! scope="col" style="width:160px;", Title ! scope="col" style="width:10px;", Year ! scope="col" style="width:180px;", Album , - ! scope="row", "

" , rowspan="2", 2014 , rowspan="4", ''Nothing's Real'' , - ! scope="row", "Indecision" , - ! scope="row", "2Shy" , rowspan="2", 2015 , - ! scope="row", "White Light" , - ! scope="row", "Touch"
, rowspan="5", 2016 , , - ! scope="row", "What's It Gonna Be?" , rowspan="4", ''Nothing's Real'' , - ! scope="row", "The Space Tapes" , - ! scope="row", "311215" , - ! scope="row", "Nothing's Real" , - ! scope="row", "Love Theme"
, rowspan="4", 2019 , ''Everyday'' , - ! scope="row", "Bklynldn" , rowspan="3", ''Forevher'' , - ! scope="row", "Religion (U Can Lay Your Hands on Me)" , - ! scope="row", "The Stage" , - ! scope="row", "Elevator Girl"
, 2020 , rowspan="2", ''Forevher (Deluxe Edition)'' , - ! scope="row", "Obsession"
, 2021 , - ! scope="row", "Recognise" , rowspan="3", 2025 , rowspan="3", ''I Got Too Sad For My Friends'' , - ! scope="row", "Richardson"
, - ! scope="row", "World's Worst Girlfriend" , -

Featured appearances

* Mura Masa – "Love for That" (2015) * Tracey Thorn – "Air" (2018) * Hope FC – "Call Me a Lioness" (2023) * Sorrow – "1+1" (2013) * Sorrow – "Your Lips Your Soul (Always)" (2016) * Sorrow – "Thinking of You" (2016)

Remixes

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" , - ! scope="col" style="width:200px;", Artist ! scope="col" style="width:130px;", Song ! scope="col" style="width:20px;", Year , - ! scope="row", Jessie Ware , " Say You Love Me" , 2014 , - ! scope="row", Pumarosa , "Priestess" , 2015 , - ! scope="row", Mabel , "My Boy My Town" , rowspan="3", 2016 , - ! scope="row", Tegan and Sara , " Boyfriend" , - ! scope="row", Kiiara , "

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" , - ! scope="row",

Astrid S Astrid Smeplass (born 29 October 1996), known professionally as Astrid S, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. In 2013, she placed fifth in the Norwegian version of '' Pop Idol'', entitled '' Idol – Jakten på en superstjerne''. In 2020, she ...

, " Breathe" , 2017 , - ! scope="row",

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, "Queendom" , 2018 , - ! scope="row", NIMMO , "It's Easier" , 2018 , - ! scope="row", The Undercover Dream Lover , "Tightrope" , rowspan="3", 2020 , - ! scope="row", Delilah Montagu , "Loud" , - ! scope="row", Becca Mancari , "Lonely Boy" , - , Ines Rae , "Never Get It Right" , 2021 , - ! scope="row", Saint Sister , "Dynamite" , 2023

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shura 1991 births British women record producers English atheists English electronic musicians English women pop singers English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English people of Russian descent English record producers English women guitarists English women in electronic music Interscope Records artists Lesbian singers Lesbian songwriters English lesbian musicians English LGBTQ singers English LGBTQ songwriters Living people Singers from Manchester Musicians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham People from Hammersmith Polydor Records artists Singers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham British synth-pop singers English twins LGBTQ record producers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English guitarists 21st-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century British women guitarists