Sona Blue is releasing his debut Saint EP today, and he also chatted with Variance about the new project.
The newcomer also known as Jack Adamson has been teasing with a handful of tracks leading up to the EP, including the title track and the standout single "Hermès," the latter of which arrived in April.
Hear the full EP below, followed by our conversation.
How does it feel to be putting out your debut EP?
It feels great to finally have something out. I’ve been working on it for some time, so it’s exciting that people can actually hear what I've been hearing for over a year.
So much of it seems to be inspired by love and heartbreak. Would that be an accurate depiction?
Yeah, the whole project was inspired by those coming-of-age years and I was definitely, like most people, discovering and trying to navigate those feelings around that time.
The EP has been said to explore the “limits of imagination.” How would you explain this?
I guess there’s a wide variety of sonics in the project and I kind of wrote each song based on a certain visual. I wanted every sound to give you those drifting kind of thoughts where you end up feeling things way more than you were expecting.
There’s definitely some Frank Ocean and Jame Blake influence in your music. How would you say other artists’ music has inspired you?
I love those artists but I mostly listen to older music. A lot of '90s alt-rock bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Yo La Tengo. While I was writing the EP, I found myself gravitating towards Sade, Prince and Mazzy Star.
How did you know music was something you wanted to tap into?
Writing really helps me work through my feelings and I'll always be doing it, whether people listen to it or not. Sometimes when I’m writing, I don’t know what the song's about until it’s finished and then all those feelings make sense to me.
What is the meaning behind Sona Blue?
Sona is just some letters from my second name and i thought blue paired with it nicely.
What is your goal after the EP releases, or what can fans expect next?
Me and my cousin have been working on a few videos for the EP, so I’m excited to have them out. Also been working on lots of music that I’m super excited to finish this year.