Sabiyha ‘Bird’

Happy International Women’s Day to me and to all the wonderful women out there. So nice of the powers that be to give us one whole day you know? All sarcasm aside, there are loads of great things happening today, from Trinity Laban Conservatoire announcing that over half of their performance repertoire this year will come from female composers, to the marches and strikes taking place across the world to protest gender inequality – Emily Pankhurst would be proud. We’ve come along way since the days of suffrage but there is still a long way to go and a lot of patriarchy left to smash, so I hope that whatever you are doing to celebrate today, you do it with total fierceness and fearlessness. Today I’m listening to the debut single ‘Bird’ from London musician Sabiyha, whose fearlessness is demonstrated in this powerful track about heartbreak and heritage. With moody acoustic guitars, thunderous percussion, and sweeping strings, the drama of this impressive debut is only heightened by Sabiyha’s formidable vocal gymnastics. Subtle references to her Indo-Caribbean heritage are peppered throughout, the colours of the Guyanese flag  forming the crux of the song, as she describes the feeling of being ‘torn between my heritage and trying to assimilate into a world where I didn’t truly fit in.’ Compelling, eloquent, and proud, I can’t think of a better choice for International Women’s Day.