Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Appropriately, influences from both sides of the Gambian/Swedish singer Seinabo Sey’s heritage feed into this impressive debut album, an alliance most clearly achieved in the blend of pulsing strings and animated hand-drums of “Words”.
Sey has drawn comparison to Nina Simone for the passionate engagement of her singing on “Pretend” and the single “Younger”, which doesn’t need the quirkily treated title-hook. It injects a note of the synthetic into what ought to be more organically emotional: by comparison Benjamin Clementine, likewise compared to the High Priestess of Soul, more closely approximates the sense of genuine jeopardy in Simone’s delivery.
There’s a Gabrielle-style vibrato tremble to Sey’s voice on the warm “Poetic” and hypnotically anthemic “Hard Time”, while producer Magnus Lidehäll finds myriad means, from trip-hop beats to gospel choir, to realise Pretend’s character of the raw and the cooked.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments