Hours

I first heard of Denai Moore back in 2013 when she released the touching video for her single "Gone". She immediatelly caught my attention as everything about her reminded me of one of my favourite artists in Sampha. Not just her voice, talent and soul, but also the way she uses those to built up the emotional pictures in her songs.  It is not a coincidence that they were both featured on separate tracks on SBTRKT's successful 2014 album Wonder Where We Land ( I highly recommend listening to Denai's song with him, "The Light"). Since then Denai has met quite some success in her career having released her well-recieved debut-album Elsewhere and getting a feature on Mura Masa's promising Someday Somewhere EP (stream).

She has decided to start the new year with a thank-you song for her fans - a cover of her favourite (and one of mine) artists,  FKA Twigs - "Hours". Denai also posted a picture message on her Facebook page regarding the cover reading :

"Recently I've been on this personal journey and I've spent the last few months writing new music. Releasing Elsewhere made the past year really special to me. I wanted to release something to say thank you for all the support along the way. This is a cover of one of my favourite artists, I hope you like it. Happy New Year : )"

In her take, Denai Moore goes for less of the experimental production that FKA demonstrated and lets her vocals lead the track instead. The ambient guitar support lets her demonstrate the range of her voice and quckly grabs your attention in a mystical and gentle way. I believe a lot of people might find this cover better than the original simply for the less expressive but just as magical way it is presented.

Keep your eye out on Denai Moore - she is quite active on her Soundcloud page and her talent will surely continue to grow this year as well!