FROM ROCK TO REGGAE
Debut EP from Guelph singer-songwriter Nefe journeys through genres, features gutsy pipes,
What’s the deal? Nefe is the musical alter ego of 22-yearold singer/songwriter Sarah Felker, a headstrong young talent with a lot on her mind and the sort of gutsy pipes that force you to pay attention.
She certainly bursts out of the gate with utmost confidence on her forthcoming debut EP, Mama, anyway.
Over the course of the record’s five tracks, produced by Timber Timbre’s Taylor Kirk, Nefe flits nonchalantly between rock, reggae, classicist R&B and get-your-lighters-out piano-and-strings pop balladry like she’s already been doing this forever and long ago moved past such petty, pointless distinctions as genre. And, man, can she sing.
Felker is gifted with a truly huge and unique voice — she name-checks Tracy Chapman as an influence and you can hear it in there, although her delivery is all her own — and if, at present, she hasn’t quite wrested complete control of her instrument, that only adds to Mama’s brash charm.
That voice, coupled with Felker’s old-beyond-her-years gifts for storytelling and rabble-rousing uplift, has already earned Nefe — who previously didn’t have much in terms of official releases besides the 2015 single “Free the World” and a dance track with Bit Funk entitled “Destination Sunrise” — a major-label deal with Universal Music Canada, which will release Mamaon April 21. She’s going to turn some heads. And very likely do something great before too long. Sum up what you do in a few simple sentences. “I sing to the soul,” Nefe says.
“People these days spend too much time in their heads. Worrying, thinking, daydreaming. My music takes you away for a minute, makes you feel something you haven’t felt in a while.” What’s a song I must hear right now? “Let Me Know.” Not a lot floating around out there on the Internet at the moment, but this girl-group-tinged soul ballad — presented here in an unadorned, acoustic version — will give you an idea of Nefe’s all-around chops. Where can I see her play? At the Rivoli on Friday, April 21, with Julia Jacklin, Krief and others as part of Canadian Music Week. She also plays Day 2 of this year’s Field Trip festival at Fort York on Sunday, June 4.