Last month Oíche Events launched The X Collective, a new creative production platform with music and artistic expression at its core. The collective is the first of its kind in the Irish music scene and will release a range of exciting musical collaborations between it's artists and creatives. The first of these collaborations is COLLIDE from ZAPHO, TOLÜ MAKAY & JENNY BROWNE, and the track is tangible proof of the pocket of unrivalled Irish talent we've got store for you.
Typical of songwriter-producer, ZAPHO's style is the tendency to breakdown social and musical barriers through her eclectic and refined craft. COLLIDE began as a seed of an idea in ZAPHO's mind, and then grew alongside TOLÜ's powerful vocal talent and the theme of self-love and empowerment that is evident in her music. Spoken-word artist, JENNY BROWNE's part in the collaboration sees the track evolve even further into one that is poetic, diverse, and set apart from the crowd. The three artists combined are unstoppable, and the fruit of their collaboration, electrifying.
COLLIDE is packed with strength and passion in both it's sound and concept, which is reflective of the women who bring it to life with their multifaceted talent. The lyrics read like poetry at times and like a modern love ballad at others. A steady and seductive beginning gives way to a faster and funkier sound as the track progresses, and trails off again at the finish with a poetic idiom of spoken word.
Through powerful lyrics and the dreamy production behind them we ride the waves of a new and forbidden love. The relationship is between two women who, on the surface, are uncertain of their emotions and unable to fully manifest them. But beneath the surface, on the soul level, love transcends the social constructs that are holding them back. They surrender to the moment and their souls collide. COLLIDE is a musical experience in which we are at once flying, falling, and floating. We are hooked from the beginning and remain so until the very end, as if in a musical daydream.
Without initially intending to be, COLLIDE is a track that is reflective of the world we are living in today. It was recorded during lock-down, with artists collaborating virtually across county and country borders. It is also being released during gay pride month and amidst the Black Lives Matter movement, and is therefore a reminder to oppressed minorities that music and love will always be in your corner. There is much work to be done in this time of change, growth, and uncertainty. And to do that work we need to join forces, to pool our resources - to collide.
Label: Welcome To The New World
Written by Aoife Chaney