SINGAPORE — Singaporean musician and singer-songwriter Sezairi teams up with rising Filipino rapper Young Cocoa for the slinky R&B jam “Dead.”
The track, which follows the release of Young Cocoa’s bossa-meets-rap ditty “Nova” and Sezairi’s streaming hit “Restless Love,” is produced by Canadian hiphop/electronic producer duo Potatohead People. It also comes with a visualizer that expands on the song’s theme with a moody, melancholic touch.
Setting the theme for an exhilarating listening experience, the catchy bop serves as the focus track from Sezairi’s third album, “Violets Aren’t Blue,” which features his previous singles, “Raindrops,” “Blue,” “Fool,” and “Restless Love,” and three new tracks that continue his plunge into the depths of love, infatuation, and the desperation of seeking to fill an empty heart.
In this album, Sezairi turns the famous 18th-century poem on its head, challenging the cliched expectations and idealism of great love and being swept off your feet by someone who sees you better than you see yourself.
“The reality isn’t quite the same. Just like how violets aren’t actually blue, love isn’t actually easy. The true strength of love lies in the adversity, the physical labor in the gardening of two people to make each other truly blossom.”
Starting at the first moment of attraction and the infatuated daydreams of an idealized future that follows, we follow Sezairi throughout the album on a journey of the bittersweet realities of temporary love.
Tracklist:
- Dead (ft. Young Cocoa)
- Fool
- Blue (ft. msftz)
- Violets (Interlude)
- Raindrops
- Restless Love
- Lullaby
- Raindrops (Outro)
In addition to Young Cocoa, who is signed to Southeast Asian label OFFMUTE, Sezairi pulled together a myriad of talents to co-create this piece this work: Korean artist and labelmate msftz, New Zealander producer Josh Fountain (BENEE, MAALA, Theia), Canadian producer duo Potatohead People, Australian singer-songwriter Brooke Toia, music video director duo Nasri Lian and Hanie Hidayah, fellow Singaporean artists Linying and lewloh, illustrator Sleeping Geisha, and more.
“On a personal level, this album is really the result of a long depressive episode amidst the pandemic and discovering how to re-contextualize my past experiences so I can live alongside them in peace. Working on the songs in isolation was incredibly difficult but assembling my dream team of creatives to work with made it incredibly worth it.”
“Violets Aren’t Blue” is available on all digital streaming platforms from July 8. Link is live on lnk.to/Sezairi_VioletsArentBlue.
