Shawna Roxanne is a veteran singer and musician from Pittsburgh, who boasts a long track record of live performances and a number of past publications.
With her latest release, the single titled “Lies“, Roxanne gives us a jam characterized by a backbeat with a futuristic sound and an almost surreal atmosphere.
Melodic in its delivery and minimal in its construction, the music of “Lies” sounds like a perfect embrace, which cradles and enhances Shawna’s voice, allowing it to balance itself perfectly in the center of the scene.
In the background runs the rhythm that makes the piece slide forward and that underlines the hypnotic dimension of the mix, between expected cadences and bouncing syncopations. Although not built on symmetrical geometries, there is a perfect synchronism in the arrangement, which is pulsating but delicate.
A graceful balance that we also find in her vocal elaboration, with enough character to preserve the dynamics of Roxanne’s performance without invalidating the fundamentals of the artist’s natural and sinuously fascinating tone.
“Lies” boasts a fresh and captivating groove that develops in a far-from-obvious way. The unexpected rapping interval performed by Gallo Locknez in the middle of the song adds additional freshness, bringing the song to an even higher level than it already was.
Despite the fact “Lies” deals with the theme of dishonesty in relationships, the musical atmosphere is characterized by a positive and optimistic aesthetic, with a perspective of the sound spectrum that is intimately introspective and at times conciliatory.
“Lies” is a professional production, which not only manages to effectively reach the listener, but adds a musically and emotionally sincere passion to the wide array of clever technical devices employed.
Shawna Roxanne once again demonstrates her artistic depth, giving yet another example of what she means when she describes herself as a “diversified intellectual landscape”.
It is therefore no coincidence that her musical discography is rather extensive and comprised of an eclectic range of unique listening experiences and memorable performances. From high-energy shows to intimate piano performances in the piano bar, to various celebratory occasions, Roxanne is an artist capable of bringing to today’s music scene a new, peculiar and extravagant energy.
On the occasion of the release of her latest single “Lies“, we had the opportunity and pleasure of spending time with Roxanne for a brief interview. Read on to discover more about this interesting artist.
Hi Roxanne, thank you for taking the time to answer some of our questions.
In the article preceding this interview we talked about your latest single, “Lies”. Your passion, your personal transport is palpable in this song. The way it discusses the subject is so profound and detailed. How much of your experiences does “Lies” contain?
Lies contain a lot of my personal experiences. Oftentimes in the dating world unfortunately there are a lot of liars. And I’m cool as shit, you really don’t have to lie to me. I make that very obvious in the beginning of my relationships but yet guys still love to lie instead of “hurting” you. Little do they know, lying hurts worse. I had a guy lie from something as foolish as us not being compatible but I also had another guy lie for close to four months about having a girlfriend for the past year! I just really don’t think it’s necessary and is more work to keep up with your lies.
It is not easy to talk about mental health and borderline personality disorder. Still, the way you did it with “Lies” seems to be so positive and purposeful. Nevertheless, the song seems to contain a message that is not explicit, but hidden just under the surface, and that suggests much broader reflections. What is the message of “Lies”?
Borderline personality disorder is extremely difficult to discuss but I feel it needs to be properly educated to the public on how we operate. It’s not always homegirl from “fatal attraction” the movie. I believe it should be called emotional dysregulation disorder because it is literally the inability to regulate our emotions. How others may have learning impairments and disabilities, we simply have an emotional disability. We feel too much, which means we can love incredibly deeply as well. But I can go on for ages about BPD. It’s brought into “lies” in a way that is powerful for a borderline, or anyone really affected by a bad ghosting by a guy. I encourage letting it fall off like water off a duck’s back, and just taking your power back by falling back and doing your own thing instead of focusing on the crippling sense of abandonment felt by being ghosted.
Gallo Locknez’s performance is a bit like the icing on the cake that is “Lies”. His performance is commendable and perfectly balanced in the overall view of the song. How did your collaboration start and where did this chemistry come from?
Man, Gallo is a beast. We began talking on social media about music on accident and I have no idea how we found each other but we’ve been cooking up some other projects as well. Definitely look out for Gallo, he’s got some insane punchlines. I knew he would be great for the track and definitely deliver. I joked with him that I didn’t care how popular he was, if he didn’t give me the goods on the track it wasn’t gonna fly! He definitely came strong and has been working hard ever since to publicize this track to his following as well. The chemistry just came naturally.
“Lies” has just come out but is already enjoying some success and has already exceeded 10,000 play on Spotify alone. But we heard you’re not resting on your laurels, that you’re already working on something new. What is it?
Oh goodness. I’m a Gemini, I always have my hands in a bunch of different pots but I’m working on my album “Red Light”. It’s totally produced by Semaj Regah and myself and has some awesome features planned. I’ve been working on this album for a couple years now, trashing songs left and right, editing others and bringing some back from the dead. I’m really excited to bring quality music to my growing new fan base.
Is there any place online where we can point fans and would-be listeners to, so that they can find you and discover your music?
I keep my website updated with new releases at www.shawnaroxanne.com. You can also join in on the conversation on my Instagram by following @ShawnaRoxanne. I love Spotify for discovering new music, and I am on that platform. I am also on all other streaming platforms as well!