By Charlie Maybee
North Carolina based indie R&B musician, Grey Oakes, is here to smooth over the summer blues with the new single “SYWA”. Digging into a variety of pop influences as well, this a jam that will lull you into a state of relaxation and introspection like gentle waves crashing on the shore of a warm beach.
There’s a lot of soul-influenced sounds in the musical composition like funky lead guitar lines and light atmospheric brass sections, but it always holds onto a sense of cool, relaxed swagger that happens to be tinted melancholy blue. The beat lays back and allows for a nice groove that feels comforting, perfect for poolside summer reflections and easy listening.
Written during the pandemic era, the song highlights a sense of loneliness in the lyrics. The first line of lyrics in the chorus, “since you were away”, creates the titular acronym, and Oakes describes the overall theme as “a breakup song about music personified as a person”. With the energy of live music out of his life during that moment in his life, this is a love song to music itself that yearns for its sweet return to Oakes’ life. While the lyrics capture that sense of distance, the music feels like blessed reassurance that it is here to stay.
“SYWA” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
