Seinabo Sey (pronounced “Say-Na-Bo Sea”) recently described her picture being put on a Swedish stamp as the most surreal thing to happen so far in her fledgling but promising career, but this is just a sign of how far the twenty-four year old Swede has come.
To bind Sey’s music to a definitive genre is difficult – ‘Pistols at Dawn’ is the lead track off of her For Madeline EP and it is a dark, moody pop song but ‘Younger’ is an electro-soul anthem. It is this variety of sound combined with her quite simply fantastic vocals that makes this young vocalist, whose father was a star in his homeland in Gambia, such an intriguing prospect.
In an interview with the Guardian in 2014 she suggested that Beyoncé was her idol and that Erykan Badu and CeeLo Green are her biggest influences. Yet to say she sounds distinctly like any of them would be a stretch, none combine the same sounds that Sey does.
‘Hard Time’ as well as the two aforementioned hits were made in collaboration with producer Magnus Lidehäll, who had just finished working with the likes of Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue, highlighting Sey’s vast potential. Such potential has been recognised from all corners: she was one of the performers at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in December.
While there has not been an outright number one yet for Sey, she topped both Hype Machine and Shazam charts in 2014 and even greater success is sure to come in 2015.
