The debut EP of South African soul singer-songwriter Lloyiso is a thesis centred on authenticity—a trait that’s been the guiding principle throughout his journey from an Idols SA finalist and social media singing sensation to a recording artist who’s labelmates with the likes of John Legend, Lorde, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd. “Social media was an outlet,” Lloyiso tells Apple Music. “I was always there to just post something and get out—and then it changed my life. It got me signed to the first label I got signed to. And it’s the fact that I was sitting in my room and just doing this without begging people to listen to my music. You don't have to know me. I'm not sharing my life. I'm not talking about anything. I'm just singing.”
Largely co-produced by Lloyiso and Norweigan producer Earwulf, Seasons tells honest and vulnerable stories across its seven tracks. “When I started writing it, I was head over heels,” Lloyiso explains, “and I wrote about that. I got hurt; we broke up; I was heartbroken; there's a song about that. And at some point I realised that this life thing is just the way it is, and you just have to make the most of it.” Here, Lloyiso (Loyiso Gijana) takes us through Seasons, track by track.
“Seasons”
“‘Seasons’ is about a moment when I realised that I'm not going to get what I want from other people. And I think I just needed to find a place where I can feel like I can love myself. And I think it's about loving myself. No one's going to give me the validation that I supposedly need. And I'm the only person that can validate myself.”
“Give a Little Kindness”
“‘Give a Little Kindness’ is just about giving empathy to yourself, and not always beating yourself down for things that you cannot control, and appreciating that you're going to get through things.”
“What I Would Say”
“I wrote this when I was in LA. When I started the song, I remembered a moment in my life where I was at [a school] social. And I was in love with this girl, but I was so scared to tell her. And then I think I remember in that moment thinking about what would I say if I were in one of those romantic movies, where there's ‘happily ever after’. And I remember looking back on that like, ‘This is what I would say. I would do all these. I would buy her flowers. I would make her the best food. I would do those kinds of things.’ It’s what I would say if I were in a movie.”
“Run”
“I wrote this with Mr Hudson and [Norweigan producer/songwriter duo] Stargate in LA. I had a vision that I was running along the beach, and I was just running for my life, just putting foot and running. It's just like getting away from all the noise and getting away from all the fears that I have. I think we find ourselves in situations where we feel like, ‘This is not okay, and accepting it is not an option.’ So you're going to try to find a way to cope with this.”
“Let Me Love You Now”
“I think mostly it was about the fact that I wanted to be let in. I wanted to be let in because I felt like the relationship that I was in, I wasn't being let in, and I wanted more and I wanted the person to be vulnerable with me and give me all the love. And it was hard for them. There's always reasons why people act certain ways. There's always reasons why someone can't love you the way you want to be loved. And I just felt like there was more to that. I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about the person. I wanted to be in their skin. I just needed them to let themselves go. It’s about being wanted, and being let in.”
“Where Do We Go (When We Need Love)”
“This one has to be one of those personal ones. I was feeling a lot of pressure. I think I was so addicted to TikTok at some point that it got to me. It really got to me, everything that I saw and how people were talking about other people. I say in the song, ‘I know we're all broken and we're still precious.’ We're still precious human beings. We're still very pure, but where do we find a place where we can actually live fearlessly and not think twice about who we are, and how we act, and how we're supposed to be?”
“Lonely Without You”
“That song broke me, because I actually felt everything in that song. Everything that I say in that song is exactly how it was, exactly because I was in a moment where I ended things and I was going through the end of it. But then I was the one that was feeling it the most. You don't go back. You don't just ask for love back. And so I think I was in that space and I was really hurt, and the fact that I was just now this person that was living in this space where everything reminded me of this person, and now everything was just becoming like she was never even here—it felt to me like a hangover in the sense that you stop and you let it go but you still have to deal with the after-effects on you.”
