Jayden Keita – Garden (2023)
Embracing his love of music at a young age, singer-songwriter Jayden Keita began in the church choir, evolved to musical theatre, and performed with an acapella group in college. A few years ago, he chose to embark on a solo career pursuing it full-time to “take his solo music career seriously”. This is my introduction to the US-based artist, but he has been turning heads on a global scale for years. From his 2020 debut single ‘Slow Down’ to 2023’s ‘This Love’, Keita has featured in international publications, performed at venues across the UK, and is quickly garnering a loyal following.
Following his well-received electropop single ‘This Love’, Keita couples his swirl of pop with a slip of RnB in ‘Garden’. Interestingly, while the overall effect of the production is harmonic with a sophisticated flow, ‘Garden’ went through various phases before a single sound was discovered. It began as an electronic single and then morphed into the track we hear today. Recorded and performed by Andrew King with session musicians, and mixing by Skyler The Engineer, the original EDM track found its way to an insatiable RnB meets pop tune.
One element that Keita desired from ‘Garden’ and was beautifully delivered is to “pull you into a trance while also being able to deeply feel the emotions of what they are singing about”. Layering his rich vocals atop bold beats with twinkling synths and dynamic guitars fluttering throughout the single, ‘Garden’ is a wistful, whimsical twirl of sound in which you become lost. For me, Keita’s vocals are the primary feature taking ‘Garden’ to another level. A soulfulness oozes from the dulcet tones as he travels across a wide vocal range from tenor to slivers of countertenor.
Melodically, ‘Garden’ is impressive, but it is the lyrics that connect with audiences. The reflection and insightfulness of ‘Garden’ breaks through in its metaphorical honesty. Keita explains:
“This song was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend about how we constantly felt the need to compare ourselves to others (i.e. the focus on others gardens) rather than focusing on ourselves and what we can do to achieve our own goals… the thought that if we tended to our own goals we could grow just as much as the next person, especially considering how bad we want to reach those goals.”
In addition to the single, Jayden Keita released a music video for ‘Garden’. You can view the video below or via Keita’s YouTube channel.
For more from Jayden Keita, check out his official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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