After co-writing for years with the likes of Diana Ross and Tiësto, Violet Skies has released her debut album, If I Saw You Again. The 10-song album is a formative, carefully curated work that expresses Violet’s most vulnerable self. With limited production and ample substance, If I Saw You Again is a triumph. Violet Skies combines modern pop with humble beginnings, and the result is a must-listen.
The Introductory Track
“Settle”, the album’s introductory track, launches us into a shared existential crisis. Violet sings over a soft piano, “There’s still snow in California / and Paris is on fire.” The 31-year-old wrote these lyrics as the Notre Dame Cathedral was up in flames, our world of glamour delicately crumbling. Back when “Settle” was released as a single, Skies says “Vocally it was the hardest to record but feels more like me than anything I’ve made in a long time. I chose to settle for a life I didn’t really want for too long and I wasted time, and I feel like we all settle… when sometimes you need to be brave and choose otherwise.”
Simplicity is Key
“Jupiter” is a simplified yearning, her soft crooning over a dreamy piano ballad. Violet Skies compares the planets to an overwhelming love, an infatuation not reciprocated. She balances the push and the pull of a relationship, both drawing the listener in and pushing them out with each line. Her post-pop track, complete with a major theme of love, leaves out major production. This simplicity works, of course, as the audience focuses on her vocals and lyrics rather than the background noise.
Violet Skies on Death
Violet Skies candidly sings of death in “Hey God It’s Me” and What If One of Us Died?” The latter is about regrets, and trying to avoid them – though it’s not entirely possible. Skies poses the question, “What if one of us died, and we’d never tried?” over the album’s catchiest pop beat. “Hey God It’s Me”, however, is a soft ballad over effortless guitar.
My debut album If I Saw You Again is out today. I hope you love it as much as I do. ⁰ ⁰To my co-writers and co-producers and wider creative team – thank you endlessly for your time and talent spent on my music. https://t.co/bxQZfD9Bc6 pic.twitter.com/Y6AAYgaILp
— v i o l e t (@IAmVioletSkies) June 17, 2022
It’s clear that Violet Skies’ experiences as a prominent songwriter have shaped her debut album. If I Saw You Again is a complete mastery of the post-pop era, with influences of acoustic and dream-pop.
