Inspired #417 - Becky Sikasa
Neo-soul singer-songwriter and artist Becky Sikasa has just released her delightful new single ‘Work Of Love’.
Her music evokes the understated magic of Cleo Sol and storytelling prowess of Olivia Dean, effortlessly weaving lyrics and harmonies together with colourful arrangements into rummaging, vibrant off-pop tracks. Organic R'n'B productions of warm guitars and piano chords give her space to tell her story. Lyrically, ‘Work Of Love’ explores the complex emotions experienced during and after a first love.
Following the release of her debut EP ‘Twelve Wooden Boxes’ last year, Becky shares her emotionally charged new single ‘Work Of Love’ - once again showcasing her natural gift of telling poignant yet deeply relatable stories through her lyrics. Becky’s music is inspired by scenes from love, life, art and literature. With a honey-soaked voice that is as versatile as it is grounded, she delves deep to tie her heart to her words.
Becky took a moment to talk to us about her inspirations behind her music.
Who are your top three musical inspirations and why?
I could talk about artists that I like and what I love about their songs for hours, but I couldn’t pinpoint just three inspirations, because there are too many. And then also non-musical inspirations like just everyday life, tiny scenes, love, philosophy, morning pages, reading, walking around, chats, and calls with friends.
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
I recently saw this film „Finding Vivian Maier“. It’s a documentary about this French-American photographer, whose work was discovered after her death by a man, who had gotten a random box of photo negatives at an auction, scanned the images, and put them on the internet. Throughout her life, she had kept her art a secret. It’s one of the most beautiful things to share your art and connect with other people through it. But this movie is also such a sweet reminder that art in the first place is for yourself first and that the sharing, or even commercial side of it, at least for me, isn’t the motivation to create. And that it’s also cool to just make music, or paint or write just for yourself.
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
That’s a tough one, especially because I don’t have just one home, and usually float around somewhere between Glasgow, Cologne, Edinburgh, and London.
But I think the first city to inspire me was when I moved to Edinburgh. Growing up in a small town in Bavaria, I wasn’t used to the fact that there was live music literally everywhere. Like you could play in a different place or venue or pub every night for a full month. Silly me decided to actually do that then, and was extremely tired after like a week, but pulled through!
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
My new song is about the work and pain it can take to build and grow love and with love.
In that respect, I’m really inspired by my parents who met in uni and are still going strong, and actually seem so happy with the life and love they’ve built.
What were your inspirations when writing your new track?
I read Erich Fromm’s classic ‘The Art of Loving’ and it definitely opened me up to looking at love in different ways. Of questioning societal expectations and rules that still very much formed a sort of subconscious base layer of my understanding of love.
How would you like to inspire people?
I love that different people read different things into art. I love that you may write about a certain experience in your life but then it can take on a whole different meaning with someone listening to it in their life and from their experiences. If my songs do something with you, whatever that is, I’m here for it. Maybe they can create a space to linger, sit a bit deeper in that feeling for a bit.