Welcome to the transcendent sounds of multidisciplinary artist Alewya. Dubbed “this decade’s triple threat” by LOVE Magazine, the autodidact UK-based producer, singer-songwriter and artist released her debut single “Sweating” today via Because London Records, following her recent feature on Little Simz’s track “where’s my lighter.”
“Sweating” is sensual, melodic dance music: 2am in a dingy club with entwined bodies, passion and potent intensity. The melodies on “Sweating” are buoyed by future-facing productions, drawing influence from her African roots and UK club culture. Its sensual melodies implore you to move. For the track, Alewya brought in UK / Ghana-based producer The Busy Twist who makes African-inspired Bass Music that re-joins the dots between Accra and London, and the two come together for a fire-fueled fusion of the deepest club rhythms. Alewya notes, “It’s about feeling chemistry with someonebut also about a female who is not afraid of her prowess and power. It's a mood.”
The hypnotic visuals for the song, directed by Jack Bowden, vibrate with kinetic energy rich with enthralling rhythms and dancers. In it, Alewya is seen on screen in the video spraying a large canvas hinting at her wide-spanning talents which include illustration, sculpture and visual art.
Born in Saudi Arabia with an Egyptian father raised in Sudan and an Ethiopian mother, Alewya grew up in west London surrounded by diasporic immigrant communities. After spending several years in New York City, she returned to her west London community where her ear for music was harnessed: by the exported sounds of Ethiopian and Arabic devotional music from her parents and by the vibrations of ambient alternative rock music felt through the walls of her older brother’s bedroom.
The translation of Alewya’s name from Arabic means “most high” or “the highest” so it’s fitting that her music centres around the idea of transcendence. Her music is an accessible space for her and her listeners to connect spiritually. “I want to move people to themself. I want them to feel the same way that I felt when I had a taste of a higher power and felt there was a presence over me. I want people to feel that.”
Both her music and art are deep broodings through euphoria, heartache, melancholy and back again. Alewya is challenging you to remember the last time you really felt connected. And as she finds the connections between disparate worlds, Alewya wants to make you feel, and make you dance.
Alewya is the first new signing to 'Because London Records' - a new era of legendary label London Records now part of the Because Music Group.
