Today, I’ve been figuring some things out. Here are four of those things.
(1) I wanted to feature an artist who had an accent over the e in their name. It’s a pretty basic rule of blogging that you should make every effort to get the name correct of the person, act or product you’re featuring… Here we go – today, especially for you, dear readers of Sonic Breakfast, I present Shébani.
(It turns out that this is a very simple thing to figure out).
(2) I first heard Shébani’s music a few days ago, got in touch and today Sarah (that’s her first name) sent me her electronic press kit. It’s clear from this that Shébani is based in Dubai. I wonder why I’ve never knowingly before featured an artist from Dubai on Sonic Breakfast and figure out how to put that right immediately.
(3) Does Dubai have much of a music scene I ask myself? And turn to the internet to figure this out for it’s a question that I’m unable to answer. The general consensus from articles that I read is that the scene is fledgling, challenged by having a paucity of suitable venues but getting better all the time. This quote sums things up well….
“In the reflected glare of storied international hives of creativity such as New York and London, the UAE, a country less than 50 years old, was always going to be playing catch-up. The transient nature of life here has also hindered the development of alternative, underground events with some unwilling to commit resources when they could be leaving in a year or so. But a new and authentic scene, away from cover bands and hall-of-fame outfits is emerging, albeit slowly.”
(4) What exactly is it that has drawn me to Shébani’s music? It’s certainly true that the urban pop, glitchy synth and singalong chorus mightn’t be my typical Sonic Breakfast fodder. Sonic Breakfast has always been about the eclectic. I like a lot of musical genres and will shout about them all from these pages. But it’s more than that. In this tune, ‘Figure It Out (Bad Energy)’, there’s both a confident swagger and a naive, wide-eyed energy at play. There’s a sense of oppression within the claustrophobic beats that transcends into a joyful, couldn’t give a damn, release once the chorus hits. This is the sound of an emerging artist marking out her territory and becoming something in that process.
See if you agree that a pop song can do such things?
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