CHIKA - FAIRY TALES
CHIKA followed up on her incredibly successful debut EP ‘Industry Games’, with her latest EP “ONCE UPON A TIME”, this project features the previously showcased ‘FWB’ and 5 new singles. This EP arrives on the eve of CHIKA’s Grammy’s debut as the result of her nomination for Best New Artist is scheduled to be announced within just a few hours.
“FAIRY TALES” sees CHIKA discuss various matters, as an extrospective examination on the concept behind fairy tales and its narrow definition is bonded with a fast paced slew of remarks on topics ranging from racial microaggressions, to the extensions afforded to a role models influence, the sheer breadth of the topics discussed perfectly encapsulates the probing nature of the track.
Chika plays with the idea of contrast throughout the project, the stark difference between Cinderella, Pt 1 and Pt 2 joins “FAIRY TALES” as prime examples of the melodic mastery present within the project. Slow claps, a gentle and muffled drum pattern , and carefully dispersed trumpet additions are exchanged for a quicker delivery of the latter 2 features alongside percussion to add an upbeat element to an otherwise mellow track.
Jorja Smith - Addicted
Jorja Smith's new track “Addicted” arrives on the back of a relatively busy 2020 for her, as she released “Come Over”, “By Any Means”, “Kiss Me in the Morning” and a cover of “Rose Rouge”. She also appeared on Giggs’ “Im Workin” and the incredible remix to ENNY’s track “Peng Black Girls”
Jorja Smith said the following on “Addicted”.“It’s about not receiving the full attention from someone that you should. Whether that be a partner, a parent or a friend; just someone who should be giving back what you give to them. That person should be addicted to you and instead they give their energy to something else that maybe they shouldn’t”.
The track moves to echo these ideas particularly within the chorus where obvious frustrations are apparent due to the lack of dependency placed from one party to another. “The hardest thing/ You are not addicted to me /I'm the only thing you should need /You should be addicted to me”
The instrumental is calming in nature and features a muted electric guitar riff, a relaxed drum melody and reverb laden synths to provide the track with an element of volume.
Jacob Banks - Too Much
The song “Too Much” features on Jacob Banks’ newly released EP “For My Friends”. This is an eight-song project that Jacob Banks created during the pandemic, he worked remotely with his longtime collaborator Sillkey and he also leaned on the talents of Yakob, Sam De Jong, Spencer Stewart and Jonah Christian to complete this project.
“Too Much” acts as a body of reassurance with the lyricism being heavily driven towards ideas of endearment and affection for a significant other ; the songs tagline “You could never be too much” is neatly adjoined to these sentiments to allow Jacob Banks’ messages of gratitude and love for his spouse to ring true throughout.
This track has all the inklings of a modern love ballad where Jacob Banks’ vocal prowesses were provided the platform to take centre stage. The song carries a general reminiscent theme and this can be seen to be carefully cultivated through the utilization of a relaxed electric guitar riff ,a steady drum pattern and intermittent soft coos.