Chrystal

Chrystal Biography by Marcy Donelson A singer, songwriter, and producer from the U.K., Chrystal combines seductive, R&B-inflected melodies with sparse house beats. Her first official single, 2017's "Waves," was inspired by clubbing, and by 2023, she had delivered albums including that year's Dance Again. The year 2025 brought her greatest success yet when her ten-year-old song "The Days" went all the way to number four on the U.K. singles chart with a push from a viral remix by Notion. Born Chrystal Jade Ruby Opal Orchard, she grew up in Greater Manchester listening to a mix of R&B, U.K. garage, and hip-hop. She was studying law at the University of Bolton when she dropped out to transfer to Manchester Creative and Media Academy to study music production. Meanwhile, she performed at raves with her sister and recorded material that was later released on collections like Unarchived 2014 and Unarchived 2015. Videos of Chrystal's performances brought her to the attention of 37 Records, which released her official debut single, the seductive, pulsing "Waves," in 2017. Inspired by the hard house music she heard out clubbing, the track got positive reviews from BBC Radio 1Xtra, Beats1, The Sunday Times, and elsewhere, and she followed it up that November with "New Shoes," and with several other singles in the pipeline. She eventually released the album Dance Again in July 2023. When Chrystal enjoyed her first major chart success in early 2025, it was with her song "The Days" from 2015. Notion's pitched-up, more urgent November 2024 remix of the track went viral on TikTok and charted in several countries, including in Australia, Lithuania, and Latvia's Top Five. Meanwhile, Polydor/Chaos reissued Chrystal's original single; it landed in the Top Five of the U.K. singles chart and cracked Canada's Top 40 and the U.S. Hot 100. "The Days" went as high as number two on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.