Virtually famous: Ella Mai

On first listen to Ella Mai’s song Boo’d Up, you might guess she’s an American R&B singer, possibly forgotten in the Nineties.

Then the sweet, smooth love song reaches its outro, a spoken word segment delivered in a distinctively British accent.

Mai is 23 and from Mitcham, but has been operating out of LA since being signed to DJ Mustard’s label.

He discovered her thanks to a series of 15-second cover versions on Instagram. No one expected her song to be a hit in the US either – it’s far out of step from current trends for moody trap beats and Auto-Tuned vocals, old fashioned in its innocent tunefulness.

Yet it’s been a slow-burning success since its original release in summer 2017, and has only just left their top 20 after six months on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the UK, it undeservedly stalled at 52 in August, but a new single, the similarly retro piano ballad Trip, is now creeping towards our top 40 and her debut album, out today, shows there’s plenty more where that came from. It’s time to appreciate this valuable export in her home town.