Totnes-born soul artist Phoenix Laoutaris captures the deliciously dangerous moment when friendship starts turning into something else on new single ‘About You’. Warm horns, supple bass and a beautifully relaxed vocal give the song an old-school soul glow without making it feel stuck in the past.
This is not a grand declaration of love. It is the bit before that, when nobody has said anything yet but every conversation feels newly charged. Phoenix sounds playful and assured, allowing the possibility to hang in the air rather than smothering it with drama.
“‘About You’ is playful, emotional, and doesn’t overthink itself, which is exactly where I’m at creatively right now.”
That lack of overthinking is precisely what makes it work. The track feels instinctive and unforced, with touches of jazz, hip-hop and R&B woven through rather than announced with a big sign. Phoenix’s voice has plenty of softness, but there is confidence underneath it too: she knows what she feels, even if she has not quite decided what to do about it.
‘About You’ marks the beginning of a new run of releases from Phoenix, and it sounds like an artist settling comfortably into her own skin.