Seinabo Sey, with her motley take on pop, surely puts up with a lot of hyphenated descriptors. The singer-songwriter is Swedish-Gambian for starters, daughter of late musician Maudo Sey and his partner Madeleine Sundqvist. Then, there’s the issue of categorising her sound. As is the case with so many musicians of her age, the 25-year-old rummages around in a grab-bag of influences to make this tightly performed, if not slightly over-polished, debut. There’s the pop-soul powerhouse voice highlighted on single Pretend. There’s her reliance on gospel choir-like layered vocals, as heard on rollicking stomper Hard Time and crowd singalong-primed Ruin. Most importantly, there’s her potential as an observant and sharp lyricist who can still write a nagging hook. Frequent collaborator Magnus Lidehäll’s slick production easily turns Sey’s throaty voice into a vehicle for chart-courting mush – see Poetic’s piano balladry or fussily crafted Words – but this insightful album still shows flair. Not even its genre-bending hyphen overload can mask that.
