There's no denying that 2020 has been a wild year. Buzz words like "unprecedented"come to mind and so for those artists and bands who have found the resilience to create, collaborate and share their work with people who need music now more than ever, we commend you.
One artist who began their journey this year is the increasingly familiar name Seraphina Simone who has just shared her fourth release of the year in a two-for-one deal of 'Skin' and 'Blue Devil'.
For the most part, 'Skin' is a softened version of Simone's rebellious nature, yet don't be fooled by appearances. This song is an intelligent unpacking of the expectations placed up women in relation to sexuality and desire, and so as we swim in the reverb-rich melodies of 'Skin', we also absorb this key message.
As Seraphina Simone says of 'Skin':“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taught to tame our desires, to make them fit into something that is palatable and acceptable for the male gaze or an outdated expectation of how a woman should behave, and by doing that we lobotomise a part of ourselves.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."
Connected to 'Skin', we have 'Blue Devil', an intimate retelling of Simone's experience of being in a relationship with someone with depression. The fact that it's hard on both parties is almost an unspoken narrative for fear of coming across as insensitive, but never one to hold her tongue, Simone shares one such story.
“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.”
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