FEATURE:
Spotlight
Bel Cobain
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I hope that more interviews…
PHOTO CREDIT: Milo Matthew for i-D
go up this year with the amazing Bel Cobain. She is someone who is fascinating to hear. Her music is incredibly powerful and brilliant. Learning more about the woman behind the music. I think there are a lot of new fans who want to know more about Cobain and her influences etc. How her music comes together. I am going to end with a fairly recent interview with her. Before that, there are a couple of other things I can bring in that give us some background and insight. An amazing artist who is definitely going to go very far, I am tipping her for great things this year. The Radical Forgiveness E.P. was released in November. The dreamy and gorgeous opening, Pressure to Exist then leads to the finale, Awakening. With heavier beats and the sense of something more intense, you flip through different moods and sounds; at all times, it is Bel Cobain and that amazing voice that buckles the knees and brings every song vividly to life. Here is a little more on this wonderful artist that everyone needs to know:
“Bel Cobain, a rootsy, organic storyteller rejecting the prevailing status quo has proven herself to be a multi-dimensional artist, translating her message through stories, artwork, poetry, and, most favoured, her emotive musicality.
Bel has marked her territory in the UK neo-soul scene, with her intimate lyrics and smooth melodies creating a truly unique sound and her entrancing yet soft and mellow vocals have carried her across various genres, highlighting her enigmatic presence, which all comes alive when she performs”.
Before moving things up to date, in 2022, Bel Cobain released the brilliant double single, Leader/Unsafe House. Being fairly recent to her music, I am sort of listening back and seeing where she has come from and how her music has developed. Always such a compelling and wonderous artist, there is something very special about her. More eyes need to be on this London artist who is going to be playing some massive stages before long. With this magic inside of her, I can see worldwide tours and awards in her future. New Wave Magazine reflected on an incredible double-single release from the one and only Bel Cobain:
“Emerging from East London with the combination of artistry, an angelic voice and spiritual soul, we are introduced to the fascinating songstress, Bel Cobain, who has recently released the double single ‘Leader’ and ‘Unsafe House’. Bel has been breaking new ground since her debut single 'Introverted Stoner' placed her on the map in 2019, followed by a collaboration with Lex Amor the following year that established her spot in the scene.
When it comes to music, Bel is encircled with poetry, the debate of societal and political narratives…intertwined with such iconic and mystical inspirations like Pink Floyd, Greentea Peng, Kate Bush, Angie Stone, Erykah Badu and Fela Kuti. We receive these inspirations due to the Afrobeat, Latin and psychedelic vibrations that rise from her music. Bel's 'Leader' is known to have been created at a home studio in an intimate affair in under an hour, with her giving in to the enchantment and letting the words flow freely out of her, earning her recognition from acclaimed musicians such as Lex Amor and Hak Baker.
The mesmerising and jazzy ‘Leader’, allows listeners to feel the vast power of submission as Bel expresses through an empowering and liberating way. The composition of how the instruments such as the piano, trumpet and bass guitar blend together are orchestrated and curated beautifully, and accompany Bel’s voice that has an added depth of raw musicality. The feeling is prominent, spiritual and makes you feel whole, makes you feel warm.
On the surface, ‘Unsafe House’ creates the imagery of an intimate environment; your mind is wandering on a warm evening overseas whilst the trumpet (played by Juan Carlos Montiel) and Bel’s voice serenades the crowd within a cafe. Delving beneath it, the track subtly tackles ancestral trauma and what it means to feel insecure in places you should feel safe”.
Born in Hackney, Bel Cobain is now in Kent. Perhaps living a life with a different type of energy and influence, i-D spoke with her about the new E.P., Radical Forgiveness. It is a great interview, as we get to know more about the many sides of the intriguing and inspiring Bel Cobain. Someone who wants to be seen as more than someone with a pretty face and great voice (paraphrasing her). Deep messages and a sense of spirituality and truth that runs through her music. Again, there is demand and need for more interviews with Cobain. She explained to i-D how she is releasing a series of E.P.s before her debut album:
“She’s articulate and poetic, much like her lyrics, but the 22-year-old Londoner is also outraged: “There is no sense behind this world that we're living in.” She’s thinking about Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza and a war in Ukraine, among other conflicts. “How the fuck, on one side of the world, can the worst atrocities be existing and simultaneously, we're sitting in a coffee shop having a laugh? All of our families are at home safe.”
“One brain cannot quantify the reason for life when those two things are going on,” she continues. Written earlier this year, her song, “Worldly Bliss”, tries to make sense of it all. It opens with haunting synthesised vocals that sound almost like the morning call of a bird, while she raps: “No need for the mindless weapons/ they make in a blink of a second/ and call this heaven/ How can I question this?/ Worldly bliss.” She reflects on her privilege — why does she deserve to be warm, fed and safe while others do not? “I’m not ready for this minefield,” she sings, “we live but you die slow.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Milo Matthew
Following in the footsteps of artists like Kendrick Lamar, who she calls one of the “modern greats,” Bel is dedicated to building a collection of EPs before she releases her first album. “I like the idea of that freedom before you say to the world, ‘I’m ready to give you a message’. When I say ‘radical forgiveness,’ I’m not there yet, it’s just something I’m exploring,” she explains. Bel wants the EP to feel like a journey: the main single, “Pressure to Exist”, is soulful and rootsy and depicts the artist as a victim. “Unlikely” is much more jazzy with a drum and bass rhythm throughout, while “Worldly Bliss” and “Came Over Me” distil alternative R&B and hip hop. The last song “Awakening”, is a lighter dance track that encourages the listener to move, and for her to move on.
Bel often straddles the line between the academic and the spiritual. It helps her “merge colossal feelings with the academic essence of science”. “Spirituality is just one step from science. In science we learned that energy is never lost, it’s only borrowed and transferred. It’s completely connected with the physicalness and the manifestation of things and understanding how we all interrelate,” she says. “The moment you completely surrender to that, that's when you can start doing magic and manifestation because you've surrendered from your attachment to these things.”
Bel grew up on Pembury Estate, a series of 1930s walk-up blocks in Hackney Downs, with her mum, who used to play a lot of progressive and psychedelic rock. That ilk of music had political elements to it, she says, with bands like Pink Floyd proving to be formative for the singer. She was also dragged on marches for much of her childhood: “back when Tony Blair was doing his fuckery.”
Radical Forgiveness is Bel’s attempt at telling the world she cares. “I don't just want to be a pretty face with a voice,” she says. “I want to make sure that if there's anything I leave, it's a clear message for people to wake up, smell the coffee and do something about it. I'm on radical energy,” she says. “Maybe not always radical forgiveness, but radical energy”.
I really love what Bel Cobain I putting into the world. One of those artists that everybody needs to discover and have in their life, I do hope her music gets more exposure. Too good to be reserved to a certain few, we are going to hear a lot more from this phenomenal artist. Acquaint yourself with a sensational and stunning artist whose words cross between the academic and spiritualty. With a rich and sumptuous voice that holds beauty and power, there are these combination of assets and dynamics that means her music gets right into the heart and head. She has some tour dates coming soon. Do catch her if she is playing near you! The wonderful Bel Cobain is someone to watch very close this year. Do make sure you connect with her and follow the path of…
THIS extraordinary artist.
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