X Factor has produced some absolute gems in the time its been running, mainly loves of our life One Direction and ultimate girl crushes Little Mix. Now following in their footsteps are your new fave girl band, Four of Diamonds.

Made up of Yasmin, Sophia, Lauren and Caroline, the X Factor finalists have now dropped their debut single and it’s showing just what they’re made of. With a feature from Burna Boy, “Name On It” is a bold and brilliant introduction to the girls and sees them giving girl band a whole new meaning. Abandoning the matching outfits and forced choreography of yesteryear, what makes Four of Diamonds so great is their fierce originality and celebration of their individuality.

Their debut is an undisputed girl power banger and we’re slightly obsessed with all of them now. To fuel said obsession, we caught up with the gals to find out all about them.

Firstly, going back to the beginning, how did you guys all meet each other?

Sophia: We got put together, just before going into the X Factor. It was an amazing experience and it’s got us to where we are now so we’re so grateful for it.

I was going to ask, what made you want to go on the X Factor?

Yasmin: Just basically, it’s so weird to say, but to get to what we’re doing now.

Lauren: The stuff we’re doing now is the stuff we’ve dreamed of doing our whole lives. It was just a great platform to boost us and to get us out there and ultimately we’ve now ended up signing a record deal, living together and doing all of this crazy stuff that we could have only dreamed of!

So have you guys always all wanted to be singers?

Everyone: Yes!

Always had dreams of a band?

Caroline: Do you know what, I’ve never thought of being in a band until we were put in a band and now I can’t see it any other way! I feel like if I was a soloist I’d be really lonely because we’ve always got each other to chat to and bounce off of each other on stage and everything, so I think I can’t see it any other way.

Yasmin: It’s someone to share the experience with.

Sophia: I think at the time as well, because everyone like – I dunno – I think we’re all in the same boat where you want to be a singer, you want to be famous and you never think of it being in a girl band. I think initially when we first were put into the band and we didn’t know if we were going to be in it or not, who was going to get in – it wasn’t the way we went in expecting it to go was it. So now it’s like, like you said, it’s like a blessing in disguise almost because we never would have ended up in a girl band otherwise.

I think it’s really good thing as well with a programme like X Factor as well when it’s really stressful at times to have like a support system around you as opposed to like going it alone.

Yasmin: Yeah and two years after, all the things we’re doing, all the people we’re working with like to be able to share it between four of us…

Sophia: It’s like therapy! If you’ve ever got any problems you can just go up to someone else’s room and be like “Ugh, help!”

Lauren: Have a discussion even in the corridors. You know we all get together in the corridor, have a little sit down, get the problems out!

Yasmin: If someone sends you a difficult message come to Sophia. Basically they’re speaking to Sophia but they don’t even know…

Sophia: Hey boys, you’re actually talking to me!

Amazing. And do you guys all have kind of like similar influences with your music?

Lauren: Yeah, in terms of influences maybe similar but actual music tastes we’re all a bit different and it kind of works because when it’s blended on our own music it’s such like a fusion of so many different styles.

So was it like a fairly harmonious thing when you all like kind of came together then? There was no like clashing of heads?

Caroline: We all want the same thing, and in terms of music, when we got in the studio and made our own stuff and heard the demos back, we all knew that that was the vibe that we all wanted to go for. It’s all about the music here. We love it.

Lauren: And I think personality wise, we’ve all had very similar upbringings and like, we’re all just very grateful for what we’re doing. There’s been no like clashing, we’ve just got on from day one.

Yasmin: And our families all get on as well! Our mums call each other The Four Pearls!

That’s so cute! Obviously they must be very proud that you’ve just dropped your debut single! Can you tell me a bit about it?

Yasmin: It’s very different, I don’t think people will expect it.

Lauren: I think you just have to forget anything you expect from a girl band. It’s kind of like the opposite, it’s very cool, got a good beat behind it…

Caroline: It’s representative of us, of our vibe, of what we stand for.

Lauren: It’s unique, it’s relatable.

Yasmin: Everyone can relate to it, boy, girl, mum, dad…

Something for the whole family?

Yasmin: Any age!

Lauren: I feel like what the song is about, everyone has been through that at one stage. Everyone will be like “Oh, I remember that!”

And how are you feeling about it finally coming out?

Sophia: Very excited!

How long were you guys working on it for?

Lauren: It’s been like the past year and a half we’ve been in the studio solidly, working with writers, some incredible people, and finally we get to release it and show it to people and for them see what we’ve been working so hard on.

Yasmin: But I am very nervous. I think we all are. We’re all very nervous.

Caroline: We don’t know what to expect, do we?

Yasmin: We’ve worked so hard on it and just want it to do well and go down well.

Obviously there’s this stigma with the X Factor where people come out and they always have like one big song and then kind of drift away. Do you have any thoughts about that?

Lauren: I think the reason we took so much time after it is because we needed to find who wanted to be as a band, find our style, really perfect it, hone in on it, make sure there was nothing we were unsure of.

Yasmin: It’s really true to us.

Lauren: And hopefully that’s the key. I’m not sure it’s been done like this before, so hopefully it works!

Sophia: We all love it, we’re all really passionate about it and I think that makes it that bit more special. There’s not one bit of the song that we don’t like, there’s not one picture, do you know what I mean? We’ve all put our hearts and souls into it!

Lauren: We’ve taken that time to make sure it’s right.

I feel like if you guys are proud of it, then fuck what anyone else thinks really.

Sophia: Exactly!

And are you working on a debut album now as well?

Lauren: Yeah! Well we’ve got a few singles lined up like ready to go so we’re just going to hopefully be firing them out over the course of this year and next and then obviously when we’ve got a big enough following and people listening to us then drop an album!

And what do you kind of want people to take away from your music. What’s the thoughts and feelings that you want people to hear when they listen to a Four of Diamonds song?

Caroline: Just feel strong, you know? We’re four females, normal girls and we want to empower girls. We want them to look up to us…

Lauren: Relate to us, be able to connect to us through our music and understand what we’re about and to be real.

Yasmin: Yeah we’re all very different, so it kind of says “Be yourself!”

Sophia: Everyone looks different. We all sound different, our voices all sound different. But like, it’s just that whole thing of just be yourself, be unapologetically you.

I feel like now’s such a good time for female artists as well because I swear everyone at the top of the game is like a female artist and they’re smashing it.

Lauren: But there’s like so few girl bands out there! When I was younger obviously there was so many, there was Spice Girls ,there was Atomic Kitten, Sugababes like there was loads, Misteeq! So many girl bands and it seems to have just sort of fizzled. There seems to be not many around and I think it’s the time.

Sophia: I don’t think there’s a girl band that sounds like us. I think we’re a bit different in that sense.

My follow up question was going to be what sets you apart from the girl bands of yesteryear?

Lauren: We’re just trying to break a stereotype, yeah. Like we’re not overly girly.

Yasmin: We wear trainers and Docs and trackies.

Lauren: Hoodies and chilled out stuff.

Sophia: But then we can be girly as well. It’s that whole thing of like just doing what makes you feel good, wearing what makes you feel good, looking how you feel.

Caroline: But also like clothing-wise we don’t need to be matchy-matchy with each other. We’ve all got our own individual style. Music wise we don’t always sing in unison all together.

Lauren: We take a lot of inspiration from All Saints and how they sort of didn’t follow what you should do sort of thing they just sort of did their own thing.

Sophia: We’ve got our individualities as well as blending as a group. We love each other but we all have our thingsin so many different ways, it’s not just in singing as well, our different personalities, it’s nice.

Amazing. So what would you say is the kind of biggest change from when you first got together to where you are now?

Yasmin: My hair!

Sophia: She could model any hairstyle! She’s probably the only person I know in the world that can do that…

Lauren: When we first posted a picture of Yasmin’s new hair, someone actually commented saying “Oh who’s the girl with the light brown hair?” So yeah, Yasmin’s hair!

Sophia: I think our outlook on things as well. Not that it was ever bad or anything like that but you just learn so much. We live together, like all these things – you just think of things – we’re just constantly grateful for everything, constantly excited like we just run around the house!

Caroline: Like when we got given GHDs for example. Oh my God, happy days, it was like Christmas!

Yasmin: Or when our manager sends a text saying there’s an Addison Lee picking you up…

Sophia: We don’t have to get TFL today!

I love that. What more could you want? And so what’s the kind of big goals for you guys as a band?

Yasmin: Oh, world-wide tour. Have people sing our songs back!

Lauren: Have people sing your songs back to you, I think that is just the most magical thing. And when the artist stops singing and the stadium is just filled with songs… It’s just magical.

Amazing. And how are you celebrating post-debut drop?

Sophia: I think we’re going to have a little event with our fans, because they’re really important to us. We’ve had some people that have stuck with us from before which is really nice.

Yasmin: It’s been a while like they’ve been waiting really patiently!

Caroline: So loyal! We just want to spend some time with them. We’re lucky!

Lauren: Bless them, we are so lucky that we’ve already got some really really loyal fans. Which you need – without your fans like, what’s the point? They’re the ones that buy the music, they’re supporting you through everything, buy tickets to your concerts, tweet you when you’re down, so yeah we’re very grateful!