Having released across compilations and 2 ‘Prom’ singles on Slow Dance Records, Platonica Erotica accumulated a devout following amongst the London Underground scene, playing live at cult venues like The Windmill in Brixton and being invited to play at The 100 Club by Black Country, New Road, whose special edition mixtape she also contributed to. Her musical stomping-ground has also extended to playing gigs with Matt Maltese, Tiña, The Rhythm Method and Famous. Self-described as ‘the Greek god of singing karaoke to your crush (in your imagination)’, she lavishes listeners with cultural references whilst always spooning in a healthy dose of humour, name-dropping John Updike and Socrates. Her songwriting draws upon influences from Jonathan Richman, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Peggy Lee, Lou Reed, and the adolescent drama of The Shangri-Las. She expertly ricochets from the sweet to the vicious over lush choral harmonies and pea-sweet bedroom production. Both parents being musical theatre actors, Hayden formatively remembers listening to rehearsals and her inspiration comes predominantly from ‘the banality of suburban America, where I grew up, how beautiful and boring and performative it is’. With a brooding beauty in her voice akin to Lana Del Rey, but with a heavy dose of self-awareness and knife-edge wit, Platonica Erotica’s world is seductively romantic and sophisticated. No other artist can make you feel so enamoured and yet so victimised. Her debut release was on Slow Dance’s 2018 Compilation: lo-fi bedroom track “Wasted” introduced her as an idiosyncratic songwriter whose humour and intelligence bleed through her words and arrangements. She went on to also contribute to their 2020 edition, with the deliciously lullaby-like “ILYSM”, and to Dig That Treasure’s Elevate compilation.