New releases from UAE-based artists Alexis, Saffron
R&B singer-songwriter and producer Alexis, who splits her time between the UK and the UAE, has released her sophomore album “This Is Me…” on Universal Music MENA — her first record for the label and almost a decade on from the release of her debut album, 2010’s “Speak Love Life Lessons,” which was released by EMI, and which spawned an album of remixes — “Speak Loud” — in 2014.
Alexis told Arab News that she comes from a family with “roots in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula” and that she remembers growing up with the music of Umm Kulthum. She found herself drawn to female vocalists.
“There was something about powerful women and the effect of song that really resonated with me, and it stuck with me,” she said.
Her mainly self-produced album (“Love Will…” is a collaboration with Grammy-winning producers Carvin & Ivan) is, according to the label, “a suite of material that gives an unambiguous and candid view into her life ... imbuing her signature R&B vocals across Middle Eastern rhythms, ythms, trap beats, bluegrass banjos anjos and symphonic string arrangements.” gements.”
“This Is Me…” was released Feb. 1, and Alexis said she has already received ceived feedback from people in the US, Africa, the Middle East, Spain, the Far East, t, and Russia. Audience response sponse is one of the things gs she most appreciates about her music career, eer, she explained.
“It’s a commummunion that is like nothing else. se. I love that at s o meth i n g