Hello everyone, and welcome back to another blog post! I will write about American-British singer Celeste for this week's New Girl. Celeste was born in Culver City, California, and lived with her mother, who was from England, and her father, who was from Jamaica. When Celeste was three years old, her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother to the UK. Celeste's father later died from lung cancer at age 49 (Martin). Celeste received a scholarship to attend a performing arts school where she did ballet. Celeste grew up listening to artists like Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. Later, she discovered musicians like Thelonious Monk, Koko Taylor, and Sun Ra. Celeste wrote her first song with her bandmates when she was 16. The song was called Sirens and was written about her father's death. The song was uploaded to Youtube, after which her manager insisted she take professional writing classes (Weiss). After graduating, Celeste began taking songwriting seriously and recorded her songs to post online. In November of 2014, she released a self-titled EP that got the attention of BBC Radio 1. In October 2016, Celeste released her debut single, Daydreaming, under Lilly Allen's label: Bank Holiday Records. In 2017 she released her debut EP called The Milk & The Honey, and In 2018 Celeste decided to sign with Polydor Records, where she released her second EP: Lately. Celeste went on to release a studio album called, Not Your Muse in 2021. Her songs were added to Elton John's Apple Music playlist, and people started to notice her talents. She has won significant awards for BBC, A&R, and The BRIT Awards.
On to the song review, I will be discussing Celeste's song Strange. I first heard this song on Netflix's Outer Banks. If you're thinking, "Wow, Lydia, you watch a lot of TV shows," yes I do, but it's a way that I discover great music and content for this blog. So, weirdly, you could say it's my job? Nah.
Strange was written by Celeste, Stephen Wrabel, and Jamie Hartman. The song is about how relationships can change over time and how they can have beautiful moments that turn ugly. The song begins with a soft piano and Celeste's beautifully haunting voice. I think Celeste's vocals sound so great in this song, and the acoustics in the recording give me shivers. Celeste also does an amazing job of using imagery for her lyrics: "I tried for you. Tried to see through all the smoke and the dirt. It wouldn't move. What could I do? I touch your head to pull your thoughts into my hands, but now I can't." Celeste tried to make things work with this person, but they lost their connection. In the pre-chorus, a string section is added, which makes the song more emotional and pulls at your feelings. In the lyrics, Celeste sings about how they have not changed physically, yet their feelings and emotions for each other have. In the chorus, Celeste really shines when she sings: "Isn't it strange how people can change? Strangers to friends, friends into lovers, and strangers again." I feel that many people can relate to these lyrics because isn't that how most ending relationships happen? And it is strange how the cycle works, to give your most vulnerable self to someone who once was a stranger and to inevitably have that person become a stranger again. In the second verse, Celeste sings: "Back to this room, back to our roots. What did we lose? What did we lose?" Like the lyrics in the first verse, nothing has physically changed, even in their environment, but they have lost that spark. The chord progression changes in the bridge, and Celeste sings in a deeper tone that reminds me of Etta James. The lyrics in the bridge are probably my favorite lyrics from the entire song: "Then the silence steals over to my bedside, and it whispers who I am. That violent disclosure turns my insides. Stops me when I try to stand." This is when Celeste realizes that the relationship is over, and it is finished, no matter how hard she tries to fight it.
I hope you all have enjoyed this post, even though it was about a sad song. Let me know if there are any songs or artists I should write about next. I am always on the lookout for new material.
Chief Editor: Jacob Tomeny
Links to Strange:
Sources
Martin, Felicity. "Taking off: Celeste." DummyMag, 4 Feb. 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20191127181945/https://www.dummymag.com/features/taking-off-celeste/.
Weiss, Haley. "Discovery: Celeste." Interview Magazine, 13 Feb. 2017, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/discovery-celeste.
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