It’s beautiful when the name of a project is a perfect description of the project itself. Beyond giving listeners a sneak into what it sounds like, it also characterizes it – using descriptive power to convey its core message and most prominent emotion. And this is the case with Fewa’s “Rewind” EP.
It sets you up. You begin a whole chain by simply pressing play on the EP as your second, third and fourth listens are already initiated by that first play. ‘Rewind’ has a guaranteed replay value as it leaves you yearning for more Fewa, even after its eleven minutes length.
And it is strategic.
You’re first drawn into Fewa’s ecstasy world by the soft piano on “Creator”. It’s quickly followed by the artist’s ethereal vocals, her first words being “repossessive, captivating all…” – again, very descriptive of what her vocals does to the listener. It’s not serendipitous, but Fewa’s strategy of drawing you into the world she’s painting, one vocal stroke after another. “Creator” reminds you of your God-likeness, created to create, designed to design. It addresses purpose itself for all.
Right after and in the same energy, she flows into “Vis-À-Vis” which figuratively translates to “in relation to”, but this time, the comparison constant isn’t God, but her love interest. It speaks more about energy matching and romantic exchange than of the divine, but you could argue that there’s no concept more celestial than love itself.
Fewa embodies her afrobeats coating in “Crazy”. The song tries to describe a romantic situation that turns you “mumu”, even regardless of red flags and reoccurring theoretical dealbreakers. It’s heavily strings-infused, not void of the typical afrobeats five-pattern percussion.
Fewa attains ultimate flow state in “Ricochet”. In 2019, she would win all the alté awards with this record as it has this soothing, dreamy, rnb piano texture that you might describe as very Odunsi-esque, with Savy Henry coming in Tomi Thomas style. It’s perfect for the most intimate romantic moments as both artists use uber vocal prowess to maintain a humid, dreamy atmosphere from start to finish of the three minutes-long record.
For wraps, Fewa again draws inspiration from the project title with the closing record, “Remember”. It sounds like a wake-up call to the fact that nostalgia only does little help and how now is the best time to get your head back into the game.
“Rewind” is a really great first Fewa listen. It creates its own world for the listener, taking you on a sonic trip that has become a really scarce experience in afrobeats culture today.
Digi Rating: 4 Stars / 5 Stars
Listen here.
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