Margaux Regan — On Obsession, Coming-of-Age, and Finding Her Voice

With her country-kissed pop getting early praise from tastemakers and her debut EP After Thought arriving in January, Margaux Regan is stepping confidently into her next era. Her latest single “Obsessed” showcases her playful, self-aware approach to modern romance while cementing her status as a rising storyteller in the UK’s alt-pop space. We caught up with Margaux to talk about crushes, creativity, influences, and the challenges that shaped her upcoming project.

Obsessed playfully explores the obsessive side of modern romance. What inspired you to tackle this theme, and how did you approach balancing humor with honesty in the song?I think as a songwriter I’ve always had that daydreamer, dramatic kind of personality in order to have things I can actually write about. Living in my own kind of inner world definitely caused me to have very intense crushes for example, and as women we’re easily made to feel like it’s an embarrassing thing or that we’re crazy. It was easy balancing humour by just exaggerating what I sometimes feel and what other people could perceive.

Your debut EP After Thought reflects on the transition between nineteen and twenty-one. How did your personal experiences shape the themes and storytelling across the four tracks?

It’s a very universal experience that transition into woman hood and my personal experiences feel that way too. Healing, finding yourself, heartbreak, overthinking, then losing yourself again is a very common thing at that age because it’s such formative years that every feeling or experience hits that much harder. I really wanted to reflect that as well as I could.

You co-wrote Obsessed with producer Ian Holmes but wrote most of the EP on your own. How does your creative process differ when collaborating versus working solo?

My process for songwriting changes all the time, sometimes I write a song because I found a cool title randomly, or hear a melody when I’m half asleep (which results in messy voice memos), or I start with chords or none at all etc. When I’m writing with someone, it’s about adjusting our processes and what are expectations are coming out of that session, so it really depends on who I’m working with.

You’ve cited influences ranging from Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo to Sinéad O’Connor and U2. How have these artists shaped your songwriting, and how do you blend these inspirations into your own sound?

Taylor Swift’s and Olivia Rodrigo’s hooky melodies and big bridges is definitely something i’ve taken on in my songwriting, and that I make sure I prioritise. When it comes to Irish artists like Sinéad O’Connor I think because I grew up around their music, I took the honesty and fearlessness in that honesty in my music, not being afraid of being vulnerable or saying your truth.

During the writing of the EP, you faced vocal cord issues that changed your perspective on music. How did overcoming that challenge influence your performance and approach to the songs on After Thought?

For someone who had been singing and writing songs as a way to cope with life since I was about 10, it was definitely scary. I had to learn to rely on other coping mechanisms rather than grabbing my guitar from the side of my room every time something happened, and that was very interesting. It made me look at music from an outside perspective even more, and re-learn how to connect and ground myself to the emotions in my songs again.

Check out her latest single Obsessed HERE