For the past decade, British/Colombian R&B singer Sasha Keable has been slowly building a reputation as one of the coolest and best connected stars of south London. A Brit school graduate, Keable has worked with everyone from Jorja Smith to Dev Hynes and Hak Baker, and now – following a three-year hiatus – she’s returned with two new tracks.
‘It feels like a long time coming. I’ve just had my head down in the studio, not really doing much else apart from writing and creating. So it feels nice that finally, I’m not the only one listening to the songs,’ she tells me.
Last month she dropped her comeback single, Hold Up which quickly racked up half a million streams, and today she announces an intensely sexy but deeply personal track, Auction. ‘I wrote it with kwn and Joel Compass and it was just honestly the most fun session ever,’ she says. ‘It’s very different to anything I’ve put out before and I think that’s really exciting but also scary for me.’
Keable’s latest two tracks also address her sexuality for the first time, quoting women as her sole love interests. ‘I’m feeling really good about it, it feels nice to just be completely myself and I’ve kind of found myself happy in the space I’m in. So yeah it feels really good and feels really empowering, I’m really excited for it. I don’t really feel nervous about it, if you get it you get it and if you don’t… then sorry.’
Did she ever feel the need to hide her sexuality previously? ‘No, it wasn't a case of hiding my sexuality, it was a case of I hadn’t actually come out yet. I guess the period I came out was during my last EP, so when that music came out I came out, but the music was already written a while before.’
Teasing us with two singles, what are her plans for the rest of her year? ‘I’m looking forward to just putting out all this music I’ve been working so hard on. I think I’m really excited for the end of 2024 to see where I started and where it ended. Plus obviously live shows and everything.’
As she celebrates a new era, Sasha Keable curates this week’s Friday night playlist. Listen here.
Marques Houston - Clubbin’
Rajah Wild - Gogo
BEAM - Win
Tokischa - CANDY
Anderson .Paak, Knxwledge, and NxWorries - Droogs
