Deyah

Deyah is looking to make a name for herself. The Berkshire MC released her new EP ‘Care City’ on April 10th on High Mileage, Low Life. The release, full of confessional lyrics over lo-fi beats, follows on from last year’s ‘Lover//Loner’ EP, and continues the process of reinvention as she follows on the interest around her previous pseudonym NoNameDisciple. Whilst it’s an odd time to be releasing new music, Deyah is just thankful to get her material out there.

“I feel relieved to be honest,” Deyah told Music News. “I feel like releasing ‘Care City’ was very much needed in a personal sense as well as career wise.

“‘Lover//Loner’ was experimental for me, a trial and error kinda thing, whereas I feel ‘Care City’ has more intent and more structure as a body of work.

“I’ve learnt to spend more time creating a track as opposed to just adapting lyrics to a beat.”

When some artists are delaying their releases due to Coronavirus, Deyah can only see the positives of the moment.

Deyah said: “I don't see any downsides if I'm honest, other than not being able to perform and promote the project.
“If anything, the lockdown is beneficial, because listeners are at home and are able to sit down fully with the project.”

The EP’s lead single ‘Venthouse Suite’ was released in March, with a video addressing the ordeal or being mistreated by others, while finding forgiveness among these feelings of despair.

Deyah said she is grateful for the way the track, a key example of her narrative style, has been accepted.

She said: “The response has been mad, to both the video and track. It’s an important track to me, so I'm thankful it's being taken in the way it is.”

When BBC Introducing called Deyah ‘an absolute phenomenal talent’, they weren’t wrong, and that’s just one piece of high praise her music has received from the media.

“I'm humbled by the response,” Deyah said, “especially when people say how the music has helped them, especially during this period of isolation.”

Deyah’s also set her targets high for future praise. “I would love to win over Little Simz,” Deyah said. “She's the bomb.”

Whilst she misses the cinema in lockdown, she’s found enjoyment in cooking at home.

“I find joy in making smoothies too,” Deyah said, before declaring she would match her EP’s opening track ‘Terminal 7’, a defiant song about channelling hope in a dystopia, with a smoothie containing ginger, turmeric, garlic and kale.

With new music out in the world, and smoothies to make, it can be tough to find time to relax. Deyah relaxes in one of the most unusual ways I have ever heard.

She said: “This is going sound a bit mad but one of the best ways I chill out is to listen to Garage music in my yard with the lights turned off but Coronation Street on silent in the background whilst I'm knitting. That chills me right out!”