London based singer, songwriter & visual artist SAI (pronounced ‘say’, backronym for ‘Sing About It’) treats us to the final piece of art from her EP ‘RE<WIND’’: a song entitled ‘Shame’.  A straight-up R&B classic, this break-up song sees SAI handling the blowout like a queen. Her slick lyrics inject a major dose of female kick-ass attitude, with just enough vulnerability for fans to relate to the emotions. Far from bitter, she sings:” Shame on you boy, it’s a shame for you boy” – let’s just say, we wouldn’t wanna be that guy! The track is blessed with SAI’s consistently dreamy vocals, showcasing her sultry lower tones in the verses, with some very Mariah-esque backing vocals in the pre-chorus, before soaring up to a stunning falsetto in the sing-along chorus. Smooth soulful R&B chords played by a light-hearted synth set the mood of the track from the start, followed by the hard-hitting 808’s and drums punching through the chorus. This mid-tempo break-up anthem draws influence from renowned producers like “The Underdogs” with a vibe so fresh, yet so reminiscent of the ‘Back in The Day” R&B we love and miss so much.

Produced by SAI’s long-time collaborator ‘808Bhav808’, SAI states that every time she and Bhav team up on a track, it ends up being one of her favourite songs. “He just knows exactly what kind of sounds I’m gonna fall for, and I don’t often write to beats, but when he sent me this beat idea, he knew I would write to it straight away – and that’s how ‘Shame’ was born!” 

Out now, SAI’s EP ‘RE<WIND’  draws its title from the very first lyrics of the EP “Sometimes I just hit rewind, and you give me love one more time” – SAI states “the concept of the EP is me rewinding back over my last 5 years, either wanting to pause, fast-forward, stop, or have a certain moment on repeat to feel all those emotions over & over again” (hence all the different musical symbols on her EP artwork). It’s hard to perfectly categorise SAI’s body of art into one genre, which only adds to its mass appeal: drawing influences from her more Old Skool R&B inspirations such as Mariah, Brandy, Brian McKnight, SAI even pays homage to the UK’s own ‘Craig David’ through a sample of his, blessed by the man himself, in her intro track “Hit Rewind”. Top tip: listen right till the end for the bonus track ‘Never Friends Anyway’, where SAI takes us back to her acoustic roots in this breathtaking piano ballad performance.

“5 years in the making, I’ve poured my heart and soul out in this EP – I want my music lovers to be confident in wearing their hearts on their sleeves and owning their sexuality too – there’s so much empowerment in that vulnerability – if you’re all up in your feelings after listening to ‘RE<WIND’then I’m happy, mission accomplished!”  When asked to describe her sound, SAI smiles: “heart-felt but chilled new soul, with touches of old-school RnB” – a sound that she has made her own, combining just enough reminiscence of that sugar soul we miss from the 90’s and the badass attitude a woman needs to own it in 2021!