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What began as a grain of an idea, featuring string arrangements as the common thread throughout the album, gradually developed into grand, cinematic orchestral arrangements that colored the stark hip hop tracks and transforming them into mini soundtracks to the life and times of Little Simz.
The orchestral arrangements were written in two weeks, while the orchestra sat patiently in the Mary Magdalena church in Highbury, waiting for the sheet music to fly out of the printer and be distributed around the room. The culmination of all this intense work were the final recordings in Abbey Road Studio 1.
The extraordinary room itself became a part of the sound track, its natural reverb lending itself superbly to the majestic sound.
This solo album was a tremendous team effort, a collaboration of which I was proud to be a part. Working along side Producer Inflo and pianist Kadeem Clarke was a joy and big inspiration. To have my wonderful Wired Strings Orchestra right there to perform the arrangements as they evolved was the most magical element for me.
Where is music without the musicians? It is to them that I am most grateful. They bring my work to life! Thank you to my WIRED STRINGS orchestra and their immense talent, patience and faith in me.
It was lovely and very much appreciated to be recognized as a contributor to this project by Gordon Rutherford (Louder Than War)
‘The thing that elevates Introvert, and, in fact, the entire album, is the strings arranged by Rosie Danvers, who has fulfilled a similar role in the past for Jay-Z and Kanye West. Quite simply, if you lifted the rap off the tapes, you would be left with a modern classical masterpiece. That fusion of lush orchestration and rap is a combination as irresistible as pernod and blackcurrant. It works so persuasively thanks to the contrast. We have that furious and potent rap of the inner-city, skimming atop sweeping cellos and violins. It creates something of a musical chiaroscuro, something utterly stimulating, and Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is built on this foundation of contrast and counterpoint.’
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