On her new song, Says I’m Home, Théa Marie combines a wistful guitar melody with pulse quickening bass guitar to create something beautiful and haunting. Her vocal takes centre stage, however, acting as a cooling balm against the baking sun and the creeping sense of alienation that can come from extended time away from home.
Hailing from France but finding herself floating aboard a narrowboat on London’s canals, it is perhaps unsurprising to hear Théa create this ode to home. Having collaborated with producers from around the world to release 52 songs in a single year, the singer, songwriter, and vocal producer is now focused on creating her own sound and space. Here on Says I’m Home, Théa is collaborating with Kiriku, who lives between London and Ibiza. Both homes influence Kiriku’s sound, which spans from groove-led downtempo to clubby, organic house.
With Kiriku’s production work, Says I’m Home shimmers with the warm heat of a Balearic sunset. Centred on the sense of calm and belonging that ‘comes with returning home, especially to the Mediterranean’, the sun-baked aesthetic and feeling of relief that comes from Marie’s vocal are clearly both purposeful and striking. The song reaches a climax with a bridge that kicks in during its third minute, Théa’s vocal cut loose against a backdrop of scratchy instrumentation and shuffling percussion. It is a moment that begs to be extended, and with the EP, Shades Of Longing, featuring a remix from French musicians dOP, we have something akin to just that. For the moment, I’ll slowly click back to the song’s beginning, as I endure the UK’s current heatwave.