Popular Kenyan singer and songwriter, Xenia Manasseh, keeps her foot on the gas with her soulful new offering, “Phases”.
The new single forms part of her upcoming “Love/Hate Pt 2” album, set for release later this year.
“Phases” is a bittersweet exploration of love’s highs and lows while poetically highlighting the push-pull of understanding and being understood.
According to a media statement, Manasseh’s smooth vocals “tell a deeply intimate story about the fear of loss and the hope for reconciliation” as she delicately asks in the song, “Do you really stick around just ‘cause of pride? Or do you really think you couldn’t love me right?”
“This song speaks to my current understanding of unconditional love and compassion,” said the Colors-approved artist.
Adding that it revolves around the hope for a requited love with a purity she hadn’t discovered before.
“My hope for love used to be rooted in not being able to see myself but here I have all the cards laid out on the table and can finally see things for what they are.
“The willingness to truly be patient rests on the sole condition that I’m met with unfiltered honesty and the realisation that unconditional love can only function where truth is the anchor,” said Manasseh.
Meanwhile, on social media platform X, she wrote: “Grateful 💜 I realise I’ve caught up to another milestone & I’m so close to being on the other side of it & everything abt this song has been my confirmation ... you ever feel like that?”
“Phases,” the first single off Love/Hate Pt. 2 is coming your way May 24th 🌻
— Xenia Manasseh (@xeniamanasseh) May 18, 2024
Grateful 💜 I realise I’ve caught up to another milestone & I’m so close to being on the other side of it & everything abt this song has been my confirmation.. you ever feel like that? 🦋 Phase II 👔 pic.twitter.com/Ci5GQI0b5C
Manasseh’s rise in the music industry has been slow and steady but it has earned her fans across the globe from countries like Nairobi to London and LA to Lagos.
She has previously collaborated with Nigerian singers and songwriters. Mr Eazi and Tay Iwar, and Kenyan Afropop band, Sauti Sol.
“Her carefully curated soundscape of neo-soul and jazz is rooted in core R&B influences. This sets the scene for her vulnerable confessions, reflecting the complex interplay of emotions that define human connections,” read the statement.
With her honest and relatable views on life and love, the “Anticipate” hitmaker has continued to make waves, and the release of Phases signals a thrilling new era for the star on the rise.
The song demonstrates her artistic growth and impeccable pen game, a skill Manasseh has further refined by cutting tracks with the likes of American artists, Brandy, Big Sean and Teyana Taylor.
As with her first album, “Love/Hate Pt 1”, her eagerly awaited sophomore album will see the artist carefully blend R&B themes to create singular artistic experience that will leave music-lovers asking for more.
Listen to “Phases” below: