Hope Tala
Hope Natasha McDonald, known professionally as Hope Tala, is a British singer-songwriter. Her musical style has been described as pulling from R&B, Latin, neo soul, and bossa nova. Tala released her first studio album, Hope Handwritten, in February 2025.
Early life
Hope Tala was born in West London to a Jamaican-descended Black father and a mother of British and Irish heritage. She learned to play various musical instruments during her childhood. Tala first started to sing at the age of 15 and wrote her first compositions during her study of AS-Level music. At home, she experimented with Logic Pro, producing demos which she published on SoundCloud. Tala describes her favourite instrument as the guitar, with a preference for nylon-string guitars but also enjoying acoustic and electric guitars. Her moniker is derived from her birth name; "Tala" is a diminutive form of her middle name, Natasha.Career
2018–2019: Studies, ''Starry Ache'', ''Sensitive Soul''
Tala studied English literature at the University of Bristol. graduating with first-class honours in 2019. Tala turned down the chance to pursue a master's degree at the University of Cambridge in favor of pursuing a career in music. Tala finished her first and second EPs, Starry Ache and Sensitive Soul, while she was at university. She finished her single "Lovestained" as she was finishing her dissertation.Tala's first single was "Blue", released in 2018 which was later included on the EP Starry Ache. She would proceed to release her singles "Lovestained" and "D.T.M." in 2019. "Lovestained" was written as Tala was working towards her degree in English literature. Tala's "Lovestained" would later be placed on Rolling Stone's "50 Best songs of 2019" list at #8. The two singles would be compiled into her EP Sensitive Soul.