[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”0|0px|54px|0px|false|false”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.19.15″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”27px|0|27px|0px|false|false” make_fullwidth=”on”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]Younger people often get chastised for being melodramatic, don’t they? “You haven’t lived enough to know the blues,” an older person might groan. But have they forgotten how intense
their emotions were at our age? Isn’t their disdain for our expressiveness just another form of melodrama?
At 27 years old, Seinabo Sey is definitely dramatic and it shows on her latest record,
I’m A Dream.
With a consistent tone and songs that can either uplift you or push you towards the medicine cabinet to grab a Xanax, she knows how to authentically tap into an emotion. Even with lyrics that could be described as reductive (ie: “If you love somebody, set them free / So here are your wings, my baby”), there are other moments that flat out hurt. When the mid-tempo “Never Get Used To” starts playing, your gut reaction is to get up and two-step. But before you know it, you’re hearing Seinabo talk about the broken relationship with her father.
The brightest highlight on
I’m A Dream is, without a doubt, “
Remember (ft. Jacob Banks).” This song has a true power woven into it. The lyrics are hopeful yet poignant as Seinabo sings about wanting to be remembered. It’s a simple request, really.
Remember me.
When Jacob’s impressive, gravely voice booms through, chills flash across my body even though I’ve listened to this song so many times since it first premiered earlier this year. He sings how he
will remember her. “I will remember you” repeats three times, each telling slightly different from the previous.
This song brought tears to my eyes when I first listened to it. Why? Because I, myself, wonder if anyone will remember me when I’m dead and gone. I know that my legacy consists of the many people I reach (thanks, Oprah!) but am I actually reaching anyone? Do my words, my actions, my thoughts, my intentions translate to those around me? Or am I a tree falling in the forest with no one around? When I do fall, will anyone remember me when I stood tall? Hearing this song put all of those internal thoughts to a haunting, percussion-free track and
I ?? couldn’t ?? handle ?? it.
“…it’s about wanting to be remembered for all of the good things, and hoping that you can walk out of a relationship – whether it be with myself in time, or with a person – feeling a sense of freedom,”
Seinabo said in a Dazed interview.
Seinabo’s voice is so special. She’s got the ability to be soft one moment and stone, cold powerful in the very next breath. Some singers
try to accomplish this but she succeeds. She might not have an incredible range but she knows her strengths. It’s why she delivers a strong vocal performance track after track. I’d love to have my day ruined by having her team up with Jessie Ware. Now
that would be some emotional ass music.
With a sensational debut in
Pretend and a very satisfactory follow-up with
I’m A Dream, Seinabo Sey is a talent you should absolutely bookmark.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
Calvin Walker
