SEB: It’s Okay, We’re Dreaming – 6-Track EP – 2021 – Mom + Pop
Genre: Lo-Fi Bedroom Pop, RnB, Electronica
Intro
The 24-year-old Los Angeles-based songwriter, musician and producer SEB has released his debut EP „It’s Okay, We’re Dreaming“ on July 30, 2021. The album was released on the US label Mom + Pop, where SEB is in good company with label mates such as Tash Sultana, Flume and Coutney Barnett.
You’re probably wondering who on earth SEB is. Well, this is the kid who made a huge splash on TikTok this May with his mash-up of „Watermelon“ by Harry Styles and his own track „Seaside,“ racking up over 1.3 million views with more than 5 million likes.
Then there’s the small matter of 1 million YouTube streams and 400,000 views on YouTube. So SEB is a classic social media star, a musical flash in the pan? So book closed and that’s it? No, that’s certainly not the case, because he knows how to write first-class songs that are definitely in the tradition of Blood Orange, Frank Ocean or Tyler The Creator.
A little bit, anyway. Blood Orange aka Dev Hynes had released two noteworthy albums between 2016 and 2018 with „Freetown Sound“ and „Negro Swan“. However, Blood Orange from London always sounds a bit overproduced and a bit campy here and there.
The EP „It’s Okay, We are Dreaming“
SEB and his EP „We’re Dreaming“, on the other hand, is cut from a different cloth. SEB says about his EP: „If you listen to my music, there are things that I purposely brush against the grain and against what’s considered mainstream, what you can call pop music. I’m just trying to expand the vocabulary a little bit and I want to blur that line. Expect a lot more imperfection, but that imperfection is what’s going to make the music addictive.“
And with that, SEB got to the heart of the matter.
He writes all his songs on his own and is able to convince all along the line with his lo-fi bedroom pop brushed against the grain with summery RnB style. The overall sound impression is pleasantly reduced under renunciation of voluminous arrangements and reflects on the essential – „less is more“, this seems to be SEB’s motto.
With the opener „Daniel“, SEB already defines emphatically which direction the journey should take. „Daniel“ starts with quirky, restrained guitar chords, paired with sonorous vocal hooks and very discreetly used synth layers, light electronic percussion and an unobtrusive bass.
The second track „Coney Island“ is a beautiful midtempo offbeat number with fine restrained electric guitars, SEB’s distinctive vocals, some percussion – and electronic drums overlays.
However, it is difficult to single out individual tracks, because the EP with 14.31 min running time seems very coherent in itself, each track is very pleasing. „Killer Lover Boy“ should be mentioned here again briefly, because this track has absolutely catchy tune qualities, just like „Seaside“ by the way.
The Videos
By the way, almost all tracks of this EP are also available as videos, I’ve put together a playlist for you:
Sound Quality
| Format: 16 bits / 44.1 kHz | 9 |
| Spatially | 9 |
| Heights | 10 |
| Mids | 10 |
| Bass | 9 |
| Total | 9,4 |
The Bottom Line:
With his debut EP „It’s Okay, We’re Only Dreaming“ SEB is more than able to impress, the stuff is superb and above all excellently produced in its lo-fi RnB-pop garb brushed against the grain.
The audio quality with 16 bits / 44.1 kHz also comes across very well across the entire frequency spectrum.
„It’s Okay, We’re Dreaming“ is perfect relaxed summer sound with catchy tune qualities.
Facts about SEB – „It’s Okay, We’re Dreaming EP“
Artist: SEB
Title: IT’S OKAY, WE’RE DREAMING
Format: EP
Label: Mom + Pop
Release Date: July 30, 2021
Genre: Lo-Fi, RnB, Pop
6 Tracks – 14m 31s
Tracklist:
1 Daniel*
2 Coney Island
3 Thrift Shopping_Pitched
4 They Don’t Like Me
5 Killer Lover Boy
6 Seaside _Demo (bonus track)
Available on Qobuz in CD quality
16-Bit / 44.1 kHz – Stereo
My Test Equiment
Studio 1 (High End):
- 2 x System Audio SA Mantra 50 (front)
- 1x System Audio SA Mantra 10 AV (center)
- 2x System Audio SA Legend 5 (rear)
- 1 x System Audio Saxo 10 (subwoofer)
- 4 x Onkyo SKH-410 (B) (Dolby Atmos)
- Auralic Altair (audio streaming client with max. 32 bit / 384 kHz)
- NVIDIA Shield Pro with Plex, Kodi (max 192 kHz for Audio, Tidal (MQA Streaming Client)
- AppleTV 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
- Amazon Cube 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos (restricted), HDR, Dolby Vision
- Panasonic DP-UB9004 (4K UHD Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
- Oppo UDP-203 (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
- Yamaha CX-A5100 (Preamp) 4K, Dolby Atmos, Hi-res
- Yamaha MX-A5000 (Power Amp)
- Sony KD-55A1 (TV) 4K OLED, HDR, Dolby Vision
