Cleo Sol - Music
"Controlling me. One last time. I don't like it but I can't fight it."
Album: Mother [2nd album]
Genre: Neo-Soul, Rhythm & Bass
Album Release: August 20th 2021
Length: 6:10
Producer: Inflo
Vocalist: Cleo Sol [age 31]
Label: Forever Living Originals
Official Audio
Charts, Sales & Streams
YouTube Music: Over 500 thousand
Instruments
Acoustic guitar, bass, conga, drums, double bass, harp, keyboard, piano, rhodes piano, violin
Details
- Becoming a parent drastically changes a person because it demands they re-order their priorities. All of a sudden, as they look at the world through a different lens, they also see themselves, and their life so far, differently. Things that once seemed important are rendered trivial and the person begins to appreciate how things must have been for their own parents. On the song '23', Cleo pleads with mothers who still act like they're 23 to take on the burdens of their new found role.
- Absent here is the commentary on contemporary black issues which often characterise Sault's music and in its place is a discussion about womanhood. Sol isn't necessarily speaking about her own experiences but those of women in general.
Take for example, the track featured here 'Music', which is a song in two parts. The first is about a couple in love "we will find our way, love will keep us safe, life's simple." While in the second, things take a more sinister turn as her partner becomes controlling. Even though the singer knows the relationship has become abusive "you're in my mind, controlling me ... I don't like it, but I can't fight it", she can't leave. Many women in toxic relationships are asked the difficult question "Why didn't you leave?"
From the level of the individual, 'Mother' is about Sol new-found status, but the album uses the word collectively to relate to all motherhood and the issues contained therein.
Artwork
