When musician Rudie Edwards decided to leave her home town of Dover for the star-studded London Brit School at 16, her mind was squarely on her future.

Dreaming of making it big and performing her music to audiences across the world, she left behind her life and first love on the Kent coast without looking back.

Rudie Edwards talks about the nostalgia in new single Young

Jet-setting to LA and getting to work with CeeLo Green, she found herself living out her hopes of working full time as a musician.

But now, aged 30, Rudie has returned to her past with new single Young, which has her contemplating her childhood home and the ex-boyfriend she left behind.

She said: “I’ve never really had that love that I had when I was 16, so the song is for sure about him.

“There was always that niggling thing of ‘did I make the right choice’ - moving to London, leaving that first love? I think it’s always kind of been there in the background.

“I hadn’t written a song about it and I think writing Young made me look back at Dover and also look back at him.”

The lyrics to Young revisit teenage Rudie and her boyfriend and their time together, from running down London Road to chilled mornings in her family’s living room.

Releasing the song brought old feelings to the surface.

She said: “It was quite nerve-racking, because I was like ‘I wonder if he’ll hear it and think ‘that’s about me’.'

“I’m pretty sure he would know, but it’s always very cringe when you feel like maybe they’ve moved on, maybe they’re married with kids and then you’ve written this song.

“But I had to do it, you’ve got to express yourself and be honest and I really wanted to be honest with this song, so I had to go for it.”

The music video, which has been watched on YouTube more than 160,000 times, shows Rudie back in her home town once again, visiting landmarks such as the White Cliffs.

But returning to Dover to shoot the video had her wondering if she might bump into her ex.

She said: “I kept getting these butterflies when we were filming as well because I think he still lives in Dover - I thought 'oh god if he sees me walking around Dover filming this bloody music video, and the song’s about him'…I’d be mortified.”

The new single is part of a forthcoming EP which the musician hopes to release this year - although the timeline is unclear as the UK continues through its third national lockdown.

"I kept getting these butterflies when we were filming as well because I think he still lives in Dover..."

March 2021 will mark an entire year since music events could go ahead and without being able to get in front of live audiences it can be difficult for up-and-coming musicians to make an impact.

And with restrictions on musicians touring across the EU post-Brexit, things could be difficult for artists like Rudie even once Covid-19 measures ease.

She said: “It’s a shame, anything that limits that kind of creativity and being able to share music - for so many bands and musicians, that’s their livelihood.

“I think music has been a very important part of uplifting people at this time, bringing people together and feeling that someone understands you even if they’re not in the room with you.”

Read more: All the latest news from Dover