London based Seraphina Simone keeps us utterly captivated in her new double single offering. ‘Skin’ encompasses reverberating production, shimmering synths and Americana-style guitars, sprinkled with Simone’s irresistibly delicate vocals, and lyrically breaks down the expectations of sexuality and desire. ‘Blue Devil’ delivers an intriguing and minimalist 80s alt-pop sound, whilst its soft, velvety melodies allow Seraphina’s echoing vocals to take centre stage.
Speaking of ‘Skin’, Seraphina said: “It’s about sex and desire. It ties into a book I was reading about a devout woman in Bible Belt America who marries young for duty, and then falls for someone else in her 40s and starts an affair. The whole book was about the contradiction between her emotions and her upbringing, how what her body and heart were telling her was right was seen as sinful. I think as women we’re often taught to tame our desires, to make them fit into something that is palatable and acceptable for the male gaze or an outdated expectation of how a woman should behave, and by doing that we lobotomise a part of ourselves. ‘Skin’ is about that inner conflict.”
Discussing the meaning behind ‘Blue Devil’, she explains: “Blue Devil follows on from O M D. It was written about the same relationship but at a much later stage, after it had broken down and I was all out of forgiveness and patience. It’s about how depression can turn someone into a total asshole! How their emotional numbness can feel cruel, and you feel guilty at hating them for it when you know it’s not really their fault. I was so frustrated at not being able to call him out on his shit in the way I would with someone who wasn’t suffering, and felt like such a bitch for feeling that way.”
2020 has been a significant year for rising star Seraphina Simone, with her previous singles ‘Cherry <8’, ‘Hollywood $$$’ and ‘O M D’ being featured in countless blogs and playlists including Record of the Day, 1883 Magazine, The Most Radicalist, When The Horn Blows, Get In Her Ears and many more. Seraphina has forged a sound that is adventurous and rich, and stunningly distinctive. Her music is sonically akin to a range of artists including BANKS, Lana Del Ray, Bat for Lashes and Lorde, as well as being reminiscent to the sounds of Human League, Blondie, New Order and Cyndi Lauper. Seraphina’s music is beautifully relatable, harbouring the narration of a young woman finding a path through an impossible 21st century. If 2020 is anything to go by for Seraphina, we can only imagine the bright things 2021 will bring for her.
