NEO SOUL singer Sezi hopes to spread wings

NEO SOUL singer Sezi has been a feature on the local live performance circuit.

Her last gig was at Redbones Blues Café in St Andrew in April, where she nailed it.

She has, however, adjusted her sights set on a rather bigger goal.

"I want to connect to people and share my art with them. I want to tour and travel the world with my music," she told the Jamaica Observer.

She is buoyed by the fact that her EP, Slow Burn, recently made the jump to iTunes.

"I'm currently pitching it to international distributors," she said.

The four-track EP was released in March last year and is produced by Wayne Armond, guitarist/vocalist of the reggae band Chalice.

That group is known for their 1982 smash hits Good To Be There and Still Love You, which features Armond on lead vocals.

"My album was released in March last year, now it's being done properly. Everything was soft," she said.

The project contains the tracks Say It Ain't So, I Will Grow, That's All and Million Eye.

"Slow Burn comes from my view of music. The fire never goes out... it slowly burns," she said.

She said she is particularly fond of performing Say It Ain't So due to its vocal range and genre shifts.

"It's kinda jazzy with high energy. It moves from one genre to the next then gets big and loud at the end," she said.

Sezi (given name is Sarah Silvera) was born in Jamaica. However, she spent her formative years in the Caribbean twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

"I'm half Jamaican, half Trinidadian."

This eclectic blending of both cultures has helped Sezi create her unique sound.

"It's not genre specific. It's very worldly. It's a melting pot of sounds. It's refreshing Caribbean indie rock/pop," she said.

Sezi said stepping outside of the box does come with its challenge. However, she said she is equal to the task.

"I really have to make friends with deejays for them to play my music," she said.

The singer -- whose artistic expression extends to being a yoga instructor, an educator and fashion designer -- believes in staying true to her music, a journey she began in 2010.

"I want to be an ambassador for my region," she added.