In an industry increasingly becoming homogenous in its poptimism, the music of Fia Nyxx is certainly a fresh breather into the popular music genre.
Fia Nyxx is a musician who has risen above the generic approach to music and has incorporated the Southern Jazz influences of her hometown. After her previous 2021 single Still Love You, she has made a more unconventional musical attempt with her latest 2021 single Don’t Shame Me. The track is a perfect blend of splendid songwriting and heart-rending tunes that comprise elements of rock and roll, blues and jazz accompanied by ambitious vocal performances. Laden with provocative and impassioned lyricism, the craft of storytelling at its height.
The raw, powerful and confident vocals on this prove to be rip-roaring, with jazz and rock groove to it. It is one that has the power to hurt you in the front seat of the roller coaster, taking you along the wonderful journey of the track. Nyxx creates interesting chord progressions and melodies keeping the focus on her vocals, the piano, drum and bass and faint specks of the guitar. Nyxx does not follow the traditional verse-hook-chorus-verse formula, instead, the arrangement lets the track redefine itself constantly in an unhinged melodic spiral.
Extremely captivated with the track, we reached out to Nyxx for her own words on the track, her music, creative process and more. Here is how that went:
Congratulations on your latest track (second in less than a few months?)! What would you say were the motivations behind Don’t Shame Me?
Thank you so much! “Don’t Shame Me” was my reclaim to power. I wanted to write a sultry but strong, rhythm and blues inspired anthem that exudes confidence and empowers any and everyone who has been feeling unappreciated, fed up with society and its standards, over a toxic relationship, or just ready to step up and be fearless. This song is all about elevating and inspiring yourself from within to, unapologetically, revel in your ‘bad-ass-ery.”
What is most interesting about this track is that it does not conform to the usual verse-bridge-chorus/verse-chorus algorithm, but is actually more of a pulsating soundscape that crests and troughs self-indulgently. Tell us how this process of songwriting came to be, and how the track shaped into form.
I love that you mentioned the self-indulgent tendencies of the production, as that was done intentionally to mimic the self-indulgence of the character and her story. “Don’t Shame Me,” tells the story of a woman declaring her dominance over herself and her life, taking back her power and confidence. The song took on a life of its own as my producer, SamJGarfield, and I let the story tell itself. We just allowed ourselves to play and have fun with it. Anything that felt powerful, sexy, daring and unpredictable was a big “YES.” I am tired of following a formula and feel so capped-off or boxed-in when I limit my art to a certain construct. It was time to let that go and focus on the bigger picture…the story, the evolution, the arc of the character, the coming to power, the journey of self discovery.
Understandably, brilliantly produced and choreographed pieces are a collaborative effort. Introduce us to the rest of the team who helped put this track together!
SamJGarfield is a brilliant producer. We work extremely well together as we have been friends for over 10 years. We have been on this journey, navigating the industry, and life, together for so long that our bond is very reflective in the music. He always manages to bring something out of me that I didn’t know I could do. We inspire and fuel each other to be more and more innovative and really push the boundaries of our talent and our art. Not only did he produce “Don’t Shame Me,” but our last release, “Still Love You,” which in its first couple weeks reached 20K streams on Spotify. Sam produced the entire album ‘Red Umbrella’ (set to release early 2022). Scott Vera, who is also brilliant, then mastered the track.
The pop music industry is getting more and more homogenous, with everyone starting to sound very alike to their contemporaries. In this scene, how do you manage to keep your sound fresh and what may be some downsides to such a uniformly operating music genre?
When I first started writing the songs that now make up ‘Red Umbrella’, I wasn’t writing them for the purpose of creating an album at all. I was actually just writing to get my emotions out, process some of what was going on in my life, and just enjoying making music. Because I didn’t feel confined to the constraints of any one genre or any one sound, I began to create in a way I hadn’t before. For the first time I felt like I was truly tapping into an uncharted part of myself, freeing a woman, an artist that had been too closed off to rear her bold head. As I continued to be brave and let her out, all sorts of songs, genres, influences started to creep in and suddenly the title of ‘pop’ music just didn’t seem to fit so well any more. I never set out to defy the contemporaries of pop music or to recreate the formula… I just let it happen naturally on its own.
You told us last time that an album is in the works! Should your fans expect more tracks like ‘Don’t Shame Me’ in the near future?
Because ‘Red Umbrella’ is so cross-genre, there are a lot of unexpected tracks, highlighting different parts of my artistry and of my life story. However, it is fair to say that fans can expect more tracks like “Don’t Shame Me” in regards to its boldness and fiery personality! I can’t wait to share more with you all. The journey has just begun. 🙂
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Discovered via http://musosoup.com
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