On 7th July, London-based multi-instrumentalist/producer/vocalist, Sola, has released her latest single “Heat” via Jamz Supernova’s label Future Bounce. Sola first picked up the piano at age six and draws from a range of influences including classical music, jazz, and electronica. She reinvigorates R&B into “warped soul” – a distorted and vulnerable look at what it means to be a Black British woman today, with her British-Nigerian heritage playing an integral role in her sound and visuals.
In 2018, she released her very first offering, “Wealth Has Come”-EP, with a striking visual for “Save Yourself” earning Sola a UK MVA nomination for Best Newcomer. Sola’s sophomore project “Mami Wata” gained critical acclaim, with the single ‘White Space’ being featured in The Guardian’s writer’s picks for “The Best Songs of 2020”.
Read our Q&A with Sola after the release of her latest single “Heat” below.
KALTBLUT: Can you tell me about your latest release?
Sola: Heat is one of the first tracks made for my upcoming project, Warped Soul, and was co-produced with Haich Ber Na in 2020. It’s a deconstructed UK garage track about chasing cheap thrills and temporary highs.
KALTBLUT: You said that production-wise, the track is an homage to UK dance music. What made you want to capture that nostalgic essence, and how did you approach production?
Sola: It’s something I was raised on and have listened to since childhood, so it comes very naturally to me, and I’ve been making dance-influenced music for years. The bones of the track were formed in the session with Haich, and then I worked it into a full-blown arrangement and track in the following months at home.
KALTBLUT: Your tracks are always quite fluid when it comes to genre, blending everything between dance, R&B, and jazz. Does that come organically to you?
Sola: I hate the thought of restricting myself. I was raised in so many different genres, so the fluidity has been very natural and instinctive to me. I rarely sit down and think, oh, I want to make x genre today, and tend to just go with what I’m inspired by in the moment.
KALTBLUT: How does culture influence your work?
Sola: It’s at the core of everything I do. Black British music takes shape in so many forms and is far from a monolith, so I really wanted to push the boundaries of what people typically expect on my upcoming mixtape, which is also partially why I find genre boundaries so restrictive. I’m just a representation of my surroundings and influences, of which culture is a major part.
Stream Sola’s latest release “Heat” here and follow her on Instagram at @thisissola to keep up with upcoming releases and shows.
You can revisit all Cultural Connection interviews at #TheCulturalConnection here.
