Review: Swahili Blonde

Swahili Blonde

And Only the Melody Was Real

Neurotic Yell Records

January 2016

Swahili Blonde

Nothing seems to keep label owner and sole power force of Swahili Blonde, Nicole Turley, down for long. Her latest single, “The Diamond Room,” is out now and will get you get excited to listen to the rest of the new LP. The song enters through a hazy, dream-scene laser fight between the programmed drums and the sharp spits of synth drawing us into the seduction of her wisdom. We trail into a melodic nursery rhyme verse that turns into a whole new entity as soon as the chorus comes to reveal a nostalgic twist. The album is focused around an “an intensely personal and powerful study of a breakup” that has been able to not only help her overcome the most terrifying aspect of letting go but succeeds in consoling all others who struggle to face the beginning of a new cycle at the end of a rough phase.

Listen to this: while throwing colorful, sheer fabric around your bedroom.

—Lia Braswell

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