Serafia (Suh-RAH-Fee-Yuh) has one of those mythical voices that lures you in with its rich, silky tone. When you hear it, your first reflex will be to close your eyes to savor her sound. Resist it: You’ll want to keep your eyes open to enjoy the artistic vision in Serafia’s latest videos, Til the Fighting’s Done and Nebula.
It reminds me visually and sonically of Sade’s ‘King of Sorrow.’
Acknowledging that album sales have little significance in urban genres, Serafia is taking the “Beyonce” approach and releasing visuals for her upcoming project. “Til the Fighting’s Done” is the first to drop, and it reminds me visually and sonically of Sade’s King of Sorrow in the way it gives us a snap of the characters’ struggles and invites us to feel the tension with simple scenes and clear lyrics.
The conflict suggested in “Til” is the continued fight for civil rights and is presented through a series of images: people silently holding gender specific versions of the “I AM a Man” protest signs from the Memphis Sanitation Strike in 1968, shots of Serafia standing in front of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth home, and through the war imagery used by Serafia as she sings to a young Black man (her lover) who’s attention is glued to a static filled TV screen waiting, perhaps, for the next round of bad news.
Where “Til the Fighting’s Done” is heavy with mood, “Nebula” as an interlude is light and sweet. The sepia-toned short moves us away from the tension of its predecessor and promises viewers further exploration of the other side of human emotion.
Check out the videos for yourself. You can also find out more about Serafia via her website.
