Oxford originating neo-jazz/soul/pop (read: uncategorisable) artist feeo is set to release her debut EP feels like we’re getting older doesn’t it on June 4. Despite it being her first released body of work (following a couple of singles last year), feeo is not exactly a newcomer, having featured on Loraine James’ track “Sensual” and played support gigs for the likes of Nilüfer Yanya and Westerman. Also, despite her relative greenness, she’s not afraid to tackle big topics, as she does on today’s new single “End Song”. feeo says:
“End Song is about the stretch of time just before the apocalypse. The calm before the storm. Like a waiting room. Everyone sitting around reading magazines, checking their watches. “Shouldn’t this have ended by now?” Looking around the room waiting for God to put his big sandalled foot down and blow as all up.
“Sonically, I wanted things to feel really wonky and broken. I was imagining going into a half- collapsed pub during World War 3, the air thick with dust and radiation. In the back corner is this band drunkenly playing Dub. The drummer keeps falling off his stool. The bassist is missing a couple of strings. The nuclear fallout has gone to everyone’s heads. I played bass myself in order to get the jarring metallic twanging that could only be achieved by a total novice.”
For a song about the apocalypse, “End Song” is surprisingly laid back and blissful. Given the constant state of anxiety we find ourselves in modern life, perhaps acknowledging that it’s all coming to an end soon is the way to achieve inner-peace – it certainly seems to have worked for feeo. Over spacey dub she unfolds loquacious lines full of observations about human consumption and destruction, piling on the cutting observations and sardonic desires, while ironic children’s cheers pepper the soundscape – “Waiting for the world to end / I’ve had enough I can’t pretend,” she eventually sighs with audible exhaustion. “End Song” then takes a dive into a deeper sonic realm for its final minute, where feeo seems to suddenly realise how beautiful how life is; the gold-pink of the sky stopping her in her tracks, a sudden love enrapturing her for a whole night – and, with this subtle but breathtaking shift, her contemplation of the apocalypse is no longer disaffected, but tinged with a poignant acknowledgement of all that will be lost.
Listen to “End Song” on streaming platforms or watch the self-directed and self-shot video below.
feeo’s debut EP feels like we’re getting older doesn’t it comes out on June 4. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
