Zion Yande Soothes With New EP: Free Was The Aim, Love Was The Game

Zion Yande (formerly known as ‘Sosa’) is a soulful artiste based in Lagos. Zion surfaced in 2018 when she opened for Alxndr London at Oslo Hackney in London.

Shortly after, she released her debut single ‘Solitary’; an intense expression of what exists between the search for solitude and the fear of it. Following that, she showed a more mellow side to herself with ‘Where Are You Now?’ a calm, melancholic tale of love lost.

Having experimented with various forms of artistic expression while studying at the Royal College of Art, Zion has found solace in music which allows her to combine all her interests; fashion, visual communication and writing.

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Her forthcoming E.P ‘Free Was The Aim, Love Was The Game’ tells a story of her cyclical experience of looking for love and completion in all the wrong places. Zion explores spoken word and melodies as an avenue for release in the pursuit of emotional liberation. Zion weaves emotional, soulful ballads around versatile beats.

The first track on the EP is a spoken word piece spoken over some nature sounds and very soft undulating vocals. The opening of the EP is an ambient intro for listeners. While this does not in any way diminish the raw emotion or the message in the spoken piece itself, it is a perfect way to start a project about exploring such a delicate topic as love and its complexities.

W.A.Y.N? sees the artiste navigating the pain of a relationship that did not work out like she planned. Zion looks for her love interest asking ”Where are you now?” and sings her pain: ”Losing my love, I’m far from the ground.”

Cracks explore the artiste’s insecurity in that particular relationship. She doesn’t want her love interest to scrutinize her too closely because she’s afraid they may then realize they don’t like her that much. This track has electro-music influences while keeping its soul/rnb vibe as its base.

On the next track, Hey Love, Zion uses smooth, exquisite vocals to explore the fear surrounding exploring a new love. The jazz/blues influences sprinkled all over this track amplifies the raw emotions in the vocals and will please listeners.

Your Last, the final song on this project is a solid way to end this project. Zion sings about wanting to indulge in forbidden love.

A major thing that stands out about this project is Zion’s soothing vocals and how they are mixed with ambient sounds which make it a relaxing yet emotional listen.

Listen to ‘Free Was The Aim, Love Was The Game’