Nigerian singer, Serøtonin, collapses the barrier between desire and pleasure with his textured voice that flits over instrumentals with regal grace. Born in Southern Nigeria, Serøtonin’s music reverberates with the pulse of his heritage and lived experiences, channelling oral tradition, philosophical standpoints, and chanted vocals. Eschewing the bright lights that typical musicians seek, Serøtonin prefers to operate in the background, letting his music do the speaking for him. He is due to release an extended play, 12:00, imminently.
There are worlds within worlds in Serøtonin’s universe. Rising out of Nigeria’s freewheeling music community, the mysterious singer sings with a lilting cadence oscillating between potent candour and hopeful pining while infusing his work with arcane poetic references. His new song, ‘May 10th,’ melds all of these elements into a balmy mid-tempo ditty that reinterprets the symbolic allusions of John Donne’s 15th-century metaphysical poem, The Flea, for a modern audience. Desire, longing, and understanding collide atop a spectral instrumental that is as grounded as it is incisive.
