Gabrielle made her debut in April of this year with hit single ‘Nasty’. The song, which addressed issues around bullying, made headlines across South African media, as the 14-year-old made her voice known.
Her follow up single ‘Spaces’, is a little different. It is more of a deeply personal song, which speaks to the issue of unrequited love.
The heartbroken songstress put pen to paper and wrote what would form the lyrical content for her next track, producing not only a musical work of art, but learning more about herself in the process and coming to terms with inequities in life and love.
Gabrielle comments on “Spaces”
“I wrote ‘Spaces’ as a way to channel the way I felt about a boy. What started as a friendship soon became more for me, but unfortunately not for him. He took my number and wrote it on his hand. We chatted for hours over the phone. I was the first to open up about how I felt, but he didn’t feel the same. I thought if I met the idea of his perfect girl, I would become his girl, but it never did.”
“The song helped me process. I used the song to work through my feelings, coming to terms with the fact that sometimes you like someone who doesn’t like you back. I had to work on reminding myself that the situation doesn’t make me any less worthy of finding someone else in the future.”
Once again, Gabrielle’s song shares an important message about self-worth, about learning to love yourself first, before others.
Gabrielle comments on Music
“I feel that music is a way of telling your story, your growth and your feelings. For me, it is very important to keep on writing and journaling my life lessons through my music, because I know that a single song can help someone else who’s going through a hard time or something similar.”
Though she addresses young love, all its pains and quirks and telling the story from a teenager’s perspective, the young singer believes that the song will be relatable to all age groups.
While her debut single was an upbeat pop song, Spaces is more of a ballad that shows off her vocal prowess. Trained by June Kraus at the June Kraus Julliard School of Music, the singer was trained in both pop and classical music equipping her with the confidence and ability to hit the high notes.
The aim was also to bring back feelings of nostalgia. This was beautifully captured in the music video (directed by SEVVEN) through the use of water and sunsets. Shot at the Vaal Dam, the video bares similarities to the Netflix series, Outer Banks.
The song was once again produced by Gino Lee at River Road Records. Gabrielle comments on recording it
“It was a great production process, it’s always great to record music with Gino. Both Gino and SEVVEN are very experienced musicians and are gifted in what they do. They understood my vision to create a young sound with youthful settings that are currently trending for people my age.”
Check out the music video for Gabrielle’s “Spaces” below:
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