sinner

1. act 1 -sin-

2. Snakes

3. Money Makes The World Go Round

4. Best Years

5. Hot Issue

6. One Last Dance

7. Psycho

8. You Gotta Dance

9. act 2 -pray-

“Sinner” is not just my 2nd album, but also a really personal project I worked on for quite a really long time to showcase my own views and opinions on different ways we’re all being judged every day. That’s why I chose ‘sins’ as a concept for the album, with each song representing one of the 7 Deadly Sins in a way that it challenges the sin itself, showing that it’s not all black or white and that there can be different points of view on every single action we perform.

I also wanted this album to showcase how important self-acceptance is. We’re all supposed to be happy, free and proud of ourselves, but in the end it’s almost impossible to not care about what others think of us, so we often end up looking for approval from people we don’t even care about, and chasing validation from people who mean nothing to us. Therefore, this album also represents the idea of being who you are and not who others want you to be.

"act 1 -sin-" is a dubstep-influenced future bass track that acts as an introduction to the album. There are some whispering vocals naming the 7 Deadly Sins, so in a way it's a prelude of what's to come as the other tracks focus more extensively on each and every sin.

"Snakes" is a hip-hop track with Middle Eastern influences, and its dark atmosphere felt perfect to start the album after the introductory song. The lyrics tackle the concept of "envy" through the idea that, no matter how nice or friendly we or someone else seems, they could still be fake, talk about someone else behind their back and eventually act like a snake under certain circumstances.

I first composed "Money Makes The World Go Round" a few years ago, but it was a more rock-oriented experimental track and I wasn't too sure about that sound, so I worked on it taking it to a more powerful EDM genre with hip-hop elements. The lyrics talk about "greed" in a sarcastic way, criticizing toxic attitudes such as acting like money is the only thing that matters or thinking you're allowed to do anything if you're loaded. I also mentioned social media in the lyrics because I think it's a tool that many people use to pointlessly show off.

I really enjoy composing songs that mix different genres, and "Best Years" is one of them because it's got elements from future pop, classical music and reggaeton, which were fascinating to combine. "Pride" is the theme of the lyrics, but rather than seeing it as a sin, I wrote about being proud of who you are and letting go of people who don't want you to be yourself. After all, as the song says, we should spend the best years of our lives on ourselves instead of on toxic relationships.

"Hot Issue" is the kind of dance-pop track that sounds like clothing store music, and that's exactly the type of style I was aiming for because I love songs that remind me of fashion somehow. It's influenced by music from the 90s with a modern feel to it, and even though it's based on "gluttony" as a sin, the lyrics don't talk about eating or drinking too much but about actual eating disorders. It was a deep topic to talk about in such a catchy track, and I was a bit afraid it would sound frivolous, but in a way dealing with this topic through a vibrant pop song felt perfect because it reinforces the idea that people who are going through hardships frequently act like everything is okay, and everything might not be as perfect as it looks.

The next song is "One Last Dance", which takes inspiration from 80s pop music. It's got a high-pitched chorus with whisper-ish vocals that sound really catchy, and the post-chorus section includes synths influenced by future bass. The lyrics deal with "lust" from the point of view of fantasizing about someone and falling for them, without being ashamed of it. In a way the lyrics might seem like they're about cheating, as I mentioned certain words like 'secrets', but my main inspiration for the song was actually how LGBTQ people often feel like there's something wrong with them because they were told it's just wrong, and sometimes they end up keeping it a secret out of fear and anxiety... But the truth is that being who we are is completely fine, and I wanted this song to represent that we can all fantasize about whoever we want no matter what their gender is.

"Psycho" was heavily inspired by the powerful hip-hop tracks that Korean boy bands often release. I personally don't consider K-pop a genre itself but an umbrella term for songs written in Korean language, therefore I'd never say this one is a K-pop song as it's written in English, but it was definitely influenced by some of the biggest trends in Korea at that moment. It features a catchy rap section and a powerful chorus, with lyrics inspired by "wrath" both as a sin and as a feeling. We can't stay happy all the time, so it's a song about accepting our feelings, both the positive and the negative ones. The word 'psycho' also sounds just like the Japanese word 'saikou', which means 'the best', so that wordplay was intended to showcase there are 2 sides to every story.

I love future house, and I worked on different songs under that genre but eventually "You Gotta Dance" was my favorite one so I only recorded this one. The lyrics don't seem to represent "sloth", which is the only sin left, but this song actually encourages people to not be lazy, approaching the sin from the complete opposite point of view. It's a song about dealing with issues and obstacles, and how that should never be enough to bring us down but to push forward even more instead. 'Grey's Anatomy' and all the scenes where characters dance their problems out was something that inspired me a lot to write this song.

Just like "act 1 -sin-" was an introduction to sins in a negative and shameful way, "act 2 -pray-" represents accepting ourselves, embracing our sins, and realizing we should be who we want to be no matter what others think about us. Nothing's really just black or white, as there are many hues in between, so just like that I think nothing is completely good or bad either, we are not just what we show, and neither are we what others say about us. That's why I wanted to end this album showcasing that moment of enlightenment and self-acceptance through a sweet and delicate song.