Tomorrow, June 3rd, Selah Sue’s new United States release drops for her album Reason.
The album has an amazing array instrumentation. Her vocal talent is unmatched in this sophomore album, an intensely cohesive yet variant body of work. After much success in Europe, it’s time to spread the excellent music overseas.
Reason is more than just a regular pop album. It has a gentle yet eloquent hybrid of hip hop and synth tunes to dance to paired with soulful, raw vocals which have an amazing range from deep and passionate, to loud and proud. Selah’s collaboration with Childish Gambino in the track “Together” was said to have come straight from the gut, and that isn’t only apparent in this track, but weaved through the rest of the album.
The best quality about this release is the overwhelming sense of subtle power. There are moments of quiet contemplation, with leaps to blaring, ethereal noise. Despite these jumps, they are undeniably connected with honest, genuine lyricism and confident sense of instrumental and musical identity. Reason appears to be a mixture of many thoughts and emotions, an attempt at a simplistic display of complex concepts, which is what makes it so accessible yet so intricate.
It’s refreshing for a release in contemporary pop to weave such instruments like horns and classic blues and soul sounds with the trip hop elements of the modern day. It’s what makes tracks like “I Won’t Go For More” and “Daddy” so special. It’s like a wonderful harmony of Massive Attack and Aretha Franklin.
Selah Sue had this to say about the titular track, “Reason” –
In times of sadness, strong negative emotions, I’ll call out to my sense of Reason. It tells me to hold on and assures me it will get better in time. Because it always does. This song is written to myself and everyone else feeling hopeless sometimes. “Reason” look at them and tell ‘em what to do!
This record is a hopeful document, a song for every soul.
Be sure to pre-order the album on iTunes here.
Watch the video for “Alone” here:
