On the brink of releasing his debut EP, sona blue introduces himself as an artist ready to explore the individuality of his sound. Presently offering a sound intended to trigger a sense of nostalgia tied up with a blend of lo-fi R&B and coming of age tales, this era of the artist is backdropped by a minimalistic aesthetic and allows for his emotionally charged lyrics to breathe.
At 21 sona blue appears wiser than his years. When reflecting on his musical journey and the meaning behind his songs, he takes an emotionally contemplative approach. He seems like a maladaptive artist, someone with a clear vision yet is willing to change depending on his experiences and sense of self. Even with his debut release, which is yet to be released into the world, he wants to “look back on this EP in a year and be like, ‘Shit that was me?’ I want to look back on this and realise I’m way better now than I was back then.”
Sona Blue represents a generation without limits, looking at the world in a collaboration sense. Noting a strong sense of visuals from time watching films such as Lost in Translation and La Haine with his cousin Elijah Horne, who aided the filming of the visuals for saint, sona blue’s overall aesthetic accumulates the worlds of fashion, music and film to create an individuality that accompanies his sound.
His venture into music was not immediate. Knowing basic chords, his interest was swayed to the previously mentioned visual arts. However, during the summer of 2017, sona unearthed a passion to explore making music and taught himself how to make music. This interest unleashed a way to combine all aspects of art in one to create an independent world that could offer solace to his feelings.
His debut EP entitled saint is a reflection of youth, bringing together recurring themes of love, learning and adaptation as an individual transitions from adolescence into young adulthood. It came about during the throws of the turbulent pandemic, working over Zoom with his friend and producer JoeyEighty. The first single hermès immediately induces the feeling of relaxation. A wave of sound washes into a fluid combination of a soft guitar and drum filled track. Sona blue explains that the song is about “the initial stages of falling in love” and “imagining a future with this person and wanting to be closer.”
The entire EP follows this feeling of connectivity. Soft top is about the singer’s younger brother and was written after the death of Frank Ocean’s younger brother Ryan Breaux. Sona blue voiced that “you never appreciate things until they’re gone. I wouldn’t know what to do if that happened to my brother. It’s about cherishing the friendship we have.” The relationship between sona blue and his brother is striking and a theme that the artist is open to speak about within his music. The artist explains that “I see myself a lot in him. We’re similar in so many ways.” He went on to talk about how his brother aids his ability to reflect on his own coming-of-age tale, “you’re growing up and working stuff out, and you’re trying to be a good person. You want everyone to like you, you have good intentions – but no one can live up to that. It doesn’t always work out.” Sona blue’s sentimental and emphatic approach adds a heightened sense of vulnerability and relatability that is appealing. Sona blue’s debut EP displays the artist’s ability of storytelling and showcases how music can represent an almost pathetic fallacy of feelings and sound.
The release of saint is only the beginning for the new artist. Wanting to explore more grunge elements in his next project, sona blue has already recognised how his artistry has changed during the creation of saint noting that “even in the last four months alone, my song writing and style has changed a lot” he continued on to say “there was a visible change in who I was from beginning to end.”
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sona blue's 'Saint' EP is incoming.
Words: Abbie Aitken
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