Interview Like A Prayer: SIPHO.

The title feels provocative – why ‘PRAYERS & PARANOIA’? “Well, the actual song ‘PARANOIA’ was written with Eg White (Adele, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding). And getting off the tube on the way to his house, it was fresh out of lockdown, just coming into all the cost of living stuff, and Partygate,” he begins. “There was just a stink in the air.” It’s a tension at the heart of the album – one where inner beauty rubs up directly against the chaos of life right now. “Oh yeah, 100%,” SIPHO. nods. “It was, ‘Today just feels fucking weird’.”

The other half of the title - the ‘prayers’ - is perhaps a more nuanced subject to tackle. On the one hand, religion definitely plays a part in the record: he’s literally kneeling in prayer on the album cover. On the other, early press around his career honed in on his upbringing as part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, despite his insistence that it wasn’t part of how he saw his music. It’s a focus that feels more related to the fact that he’s a Black artist from Birmingham than anything else, and when this is put to him, SIPHO. and his manager both burst into laughter. “Yeah! Oh my god, sorry – we’ve gone on about this for ages. We even had to make a really intentional steer with this project: no church stuff, nothing, because people lean into that and it does become a very core part of every press thing,” he says, still laughing.

He also sees it with the description of his music as ‘R&B’, even though you’ll just as easily find distorted guitars or manic drums on his tracks. “I’ve just made 12 songs of everything I could possibly think of,” he says by way of a description. “Shit’s wild, bro...” So, what narrative would he rather have around his music? He stops to think. “It’s an excellent question, but there’s only so much I can do to create the narrative,” he explains. “I think I’ve just got to focus on making the music for now. I’m 23, in the middle of a cost of living crisis, trying to become a solid human being and pay my taxes on time. I think right now is not a time for definites!”

There are moments when SIPHO. seems much older. If the outer chaos he mentions is a driving force in his music, then within the world of ‘PRAYERS & PARANOIA’ he’s focused on creating a temporary respite from it all. “I feel like it’s the foundation,” he nods of the influence of this external noise. “But it’s not just about me. It expands outwards from me. I was anxious and yeah, I’m talking to myself, but there’s a whole world of people that are exactly like this. I’m not that fucking special, this must be happening to someone else.”

These moments of self-reflection are present right across the album. Tracks like ‘SOBER’ are direct with their confessions: “Hide me from myself / My behaviour is mayhem / Only sober when I inhale.” Meanwhile, the woozy synths of ‘LOCK IT IN’ almost recall trip-hop to begin with, before drums snap into place and he begins to meditate on self-loathing (“Taste the bitterest part of me… Won’t you wish me your worst?”). The universal thread, though, is his ability to transfer this pain into melodies that flit between gritty depths and almost child-like highs, all tied together by the bare honesty of his subject material.

It’s interesting, this focus on how we face life’s headwinds. When asked what non-musical influences have played into the album, he turns to film and TV: The Bear, Uncut Gems, Moonlight. All are very much rooted in reality’s stresses, while also reaching for something intangible, something more. “I feel very grounded, watching all that stuff. Especially the first season of The Bear, where you can feel these are people with real lives, just trying to make something,” he says. “I guess I can connect to that – starting things, making it happen.”

It’s been a whirlwind few years for SIPHO.; he signed to Dirty Hit in 2021, and subsequently released two EPs (that year’s ‘And God Said…’ and the following’s ‘She Might Bleed’) in the run up to this full-length debut. He says he wasn’t looking for a deal, but was spotted by a label A&R at his college’s showcase and things then moved at a rapid pace. Has it felt odd being catapulted into this new world? “I guess I’m just letting them figure me out,” he reflects. “It feels like I was put here for a reason.” The last time DIY and SIPHO. chatted, he’d just achieved a milestone he’d been eyeing for his whole career: a Later... with Jools Holland slot. He hesitates for a moment when asked what he’s reaching for next, before smiling: “Should I say it…? Should I say Mercury Prize…?”

It’s this quiet confidence, more than the easy gregariousness of his conversation, that feels like the core of SIPHO.. He doesn’t feel overawed by where he is now, or by where he’s going. “I wasn’t expecting to make the album this soon,” he nods, “[but] I thought I’d get here somehow.” Life for the 23-year old might now involve a thrilling debut on a hit record label, but he’s still excited by the Facebook Marketplace guitar from a Birmingham suburb. “We’re still trying to find that magic wand.”

‘PRAYERS & PARANOIA’ is out 27th October via Dirty Hit.

Tags: Sipho., From The Magazine, Features, Interviews