My name is BIM. I’m an R&B/soul artist with retro tendencies. My debut EP is entitled Beauty In Chaos and it’s a glimpse at what it looks like to be a woman like me at a time like this.
Music was always around me when I was growing up but not in the most straightforward of ways. If you look and sound like I do, it’s almost expected that you cite particular vocalists as your influences but my initial musical diet was varied to say the least.
My mother loved Sade, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Tammy Wynette equally and King Sunny Ade and Sir Shina Peters were staples at all the parties I should not have been attending as a kid!
My family isn’t particularly musical but they have excellent taste which meant that classic hip hop, soul and RNB were absolutely in the mix with a healthy side of pop. All of that is in me but I filter it my own way.
Beauty In Chaos has been a long time coming. I’ve been fortunate enough to provide vocals for some of the biggest artists in the world and so the process of recording is not a new thing for me, but when you’re placed in the position of the artist, you have to reflect on exactly how you wish to clearly express your voice.
Beauty In Chaos is about the desire to freely and fully live regardless of the circumstances. It explores remaining carefree, loving and hopeful even when chaos reigns around you. Sometimes there is a tension between our external and internal realities but most of us are working on trying to bridge that gap.
I wanted to produce a project that wasn’t overly influenced by trends and so could be placed in any time; something which was centred around my vocal and would be of true relevance to where I am. There was a desire to both keep things intimate while speaking to subjects which were bigger than me so I just worked on Beauty In Chaos with a couple of producers.
I write fairly fast, which was something I didn’t realise until I started working in studios regularly. I wrote the EP alone and once an initial idea resonated with me, everything else tended to pour out. Having people around who thrived off that dynamic was imperative.
LGK and I were introduced via mutual friends and found that we love much of the same music and had similar influences. This made it really easy to work together as I believe you have to trust a producer’s taste.
You need people who can help create and push forward your vision but its so important they understand where you are trying to go and possess the skills to push it further than even you initially thought it could go. We created the opening track “Intuition” in our first session and went on to do several other tracks which feature on the project.
Will Hicks produced the remaining tracks and did the majority of the mixing across the EP. I had already written the songs before our sessions but decamped to the countryside to build all the live elements on the project.
Being able to perform live is key for me so being able to have real instruments is something that I had to do. This project would not have made sense for me without that.
This first EP is about daring to be the main character in your own life and trusting myself with telling those stories. I’m hoping other people see themselves reflected and both embrace and enjoy what they see.
Listen to my debut EP Beauty In Chaos below and buy or stream it to your heart’s desires everywhere here.
