Jem - Secrets
By Liv Moseley
Singer-songwriter Jem brings to us his stunning and mysterious Secrets, his debut single.
Jem - Secrets. Artwork by: Ferhat Topal
Perfectly intertwining middle eastern melodies collected from his childhood with contemporary western sounds he collected in his years living in London, Jem has created a beautifully knowing layering of sound, allowing us to gather an insight of his personal history.
Before crossing over to study Contemporary Music in London, Jem studied Opera from the age of sixteen. With his musical influences varying from Radiohead, Jeff Buckley and The Doors alongside traditional music across the Middle East, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, it’s no surprise that his sound holds a unique edge.
Sometimes I visualise my songs before writing them. With this song, imagery came to me in a dream-like state, and all I did was react musically to how these images made me feel. When writing music, I always hark back to a place, a visual, a feeling that reminds me of the warm and embracing state of where I grew up… I’ve always been interested in the unknown, and the feeling lies between the lines. Music and art are my way of highlighting the beauty that I see, which is often buried with a plain sight for most people.
– Jem
Pictured: Jem. Photo Credit: Onur Dag
Jem’s intricate layering of his heritage and cultural influences throughout the Secrets allows us to see more into his mysterious character. The balance of brash modular scales blended with the rawness of singer-songwriter folk within Secrets intertwines even the furthest corners of the world together, through a stylistic journey many of us haven’t before seen the likes of.
Captivating us into his own immersive world, the beautiful hypnotic visuals that followed with the music video topped off Jem’s Secret. The overall production, visual and melodic, of the track is truly mesmerising. This intriguing release only excites us more for what’s next to come. Check out the visuals to Jem’s Secrets below.