Are you a fan of Erykah Badu, Corrinne Bailey Rae and Aretha Franklin? Then you’ll love Celeste. The 2019 Brit award-winning artist has wowed music lovers worldwide over the past year with her delicately crafted vocal abilities.
Celeste’s single “Strange” was a particular hit last year. It opened up a plethora of renowned live TV performance opportunities including Later with Jools Holland. Now, Celeste has paired up with Billie Eilish’s brother FINNEAS on production duties for her latest release, “I Can See the Change,” as she looks to further build upon her growing reputation.
Being an American born British-Jamaican soul singer, Celeste naturally exhibits a unique range of global influences in her work. Her previously released single, “Stop This Flame,” explored more upbeat samba inspired influences which shone a new light on her diverse abilities as an artist. With “I Can See the Change,” Celeste returns to more familiar surroundings with a stripped back piano and vocal arrangement that could not be better suited for her nostalgic feeling vocals.
Within the song, Celeste explores how witnessing and accepting change, good or bad, can prove to be a powerful antidote to personal struggles and hardship: “I can see the change / Come what may, I won’t regret today / I am what remains / Standing here in spite of everything.” The dexterity of the vocal delivery in the chorus sections further exemplify the emotions of pain, and also resoluteness, that Celeste explores throughout the length of the song.
The bridge section steps the intensity up a notch and is perhaps the highlight of the track. Diminished chords and church-like canonized vocals add tension, atmosphere, and suspense to great effect before returning to the feather-soft chorus section to conclude the track.
Looking at the track as a whole, “I Can See the Change” may not have the same wow factor as “Strange.” But, it does provide another stepping stone for Celeste to build on her fast-growing reputation and welcome new fans into her smooth soundscapes, which everyone should indulge themselves in.