Born in northern Italy on July 30, 1990, Eliot Pauline Sumner received a first-rate musical education from her father,
Sting. She grew up in a small village in Wiltshire, England, and kept herself largely removed from the glamour and glitz of her father's career. By her mid-teens, however, "Coco" Sumner had taken a cue from her dad by composing reggae-flavored songs of her own, many of which were posted to her MySpace page. Several labels took interest in the material, and she subsequently signed a multi-album deal with Island Records.
While working on her debut album, the 18-year-old
Sumner assembled a small band that included session keyboardist Emlyn Maillard and multi-instrumentalist Al Shux (who produced
Jay-Z's chart-topping "Empire State of Mind" in 2009). Sporting a fashionable sound that sampled equally from pop, ska, and electro-punk,
I Blame Coco began releasing songs in early 2010, including a duet with Swedish pop vocalist
Robyn.
I Blame Coco's debut album, The Constant, appeared later that year. After spending a couple of years working on new songs,
Sumner announced that she would start releasing music under her own name in 2014. The
Information EP arrived that August. A pair of songs from that debut EP eventually made their way to her first proper solo full-length, also titled
Information, which was released in January 2016. ~ Andrew Leahey