If It Matters
Steven Bamidele

Ahead of the release of his sophomore LP ‘THE CRASH!” (out 5th September), Nigerian-born, London-based singer, songwriter, musician, and producer Steven Bamidele presents album opener “If It Matters”.

“Back when I was 17 is when it started…” “If It Matters” begins, setting the scene for an extended period of nihilistic yearning in Steven’s life. Having been brought up in a religious household, his late teens marked a loss of faith. Steven found himself feeling as though he didn’t have any purpose, and it was within this existential searching that the idea of ‘musical success’ was placed on a pedestal.

The track is written as an allegorical tale about an alien spaceship crash-landing in a small town on Earth – a theme which threads through ‘THE CRASH!’ as a whole. “If It Matters” sees a young human man in the town and an alien female aboard the ship form a tight bond via their respective trauma, and become each other’s source of meaning, at least for a short time. “If It Matters” sets the scene for when the ship first enters the young man’s world.

The storytelling imagery of confinement, meaninglessness and revelation, portrays a journey from personal breakdown to reawakening, reflecting the relationship Steven had with music. Despite feelings of apathy and anxiety, there’s a refusal to give up (“I won’t live my life in vain”). The plonk-y, childlike synth was the initial starting point for the track, reminiscent of an early experimental James Blake sound, combining spaced out indie-electronic with Steven’s distinctive falsetto.

As ‘THE CRASH!’ goes on to explore, music alone was not enough to fill the void. Written under the weight of expectation, the LP became an important act of introspection, highlighting Steven’s search for relevance in an intricate, ever-shifting world:

“We can’t expect religion, or music, or love, to power us through everything in life. What we need to get us out of bed in the morning must come from within. The lack of meaning in the boy’s life is represented through his willingness to run off with the alien girl. He has nothing to lose, nothing to keep him grounded.” – Steven Bamidele

Steven will be celebrating the release of the LP with his biggest London headline show to date at the legendary 100 Club on Wednesday 17th September.