Jimmy Nevis chats to us about his new album
Six years after the release of his debut album, Subliminal, Cape Town’s Jimmy Nevis is back with his long-awaited third album, Chimera. We catch up with the singer
How is Chimera different to your previous offerings? When I started out I had a lot of fans who were teenagers, and I was just 20. Since then most of them have gone through university and got married – so much has changed for both me and my fans. Back then I was writing about love, like, “You broke my heart and I’m done with this.” But now I’m older it’s more like, “You broke my heart but I also let you break my heart.” I wanted to express the more complicated aspects of love that I think I understand better six years on. A Chimera is a mythical fire-breathing monster made up of parts of various animals. What’s the significance of the name? It’s a symbol of my music and my persona. I grew up listening to a lot of old-school music like Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire and I also grew up in the church, so there’s an almost gospel undertone. It’s R&B but with elements of jazz and hip-hop. The idea of being made of many parts really sums up both me and my music. There are 17 tracks – quite an undertaking. Tell us how it all came together. This is my first album where there wasn’t a strict deadline so I had more leeway. I felt I wasn’t trying too hard and there’s so much spur-ofthe-moment, raw emotion in it. For example, with Feel Something I was having an argument with a friend. So I went to a deli to get away for a bit and ended up writing the song in 10 minutes. When I got back to the studio I recorded it immediately and nailed the first verse and chorus on the first take. Which is your favourite track? Prelove. Recording the vocals was challenging and took me to new places as a musician. Listening to the way it turned out makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside – like giving birth to a child who doesn’t end up on drugs and grows up to have a great life! You’ve spoken about being in a dark place after the release of your previous album (2014’s The Masses) and said you considered quitting music altogether. What helped you out of that slump? There was politics with the record label and I felt I wasn’t progressing the way I wanted to. It felt like a “quarter-life crisis”. I ended up travelling around the US with a friend and it was so awesome to interact with people as just Matthew [ Jimmy’s real name is Matthew le Roux]. It helped to be outside of my career for a bit. Recording this album also helped – making music has always been a coping mechanism for me. What do you do to unwind? I cook! It’s so relaxing to focus on something else. I put on a great playlist, pour a glass of wine, light candles and cook a mean curry.