“Music is how I make sense of my experiences. My songs are intimate and cathartic – I hope they can be for others too.” Hezen is the creation of London-based French producer and songwriter Sarah Hezen. Her indelible material comprises electronic beats layered with orchestral instruments, tackling themes that explore the body, femininity and the uncanny.
Inspired by fairytales and sci-fi, her electro-fantasia soundscape is tender and brutal, organic and synthesised. Her debut EP, STIGMA, released on 27 January, is a collection of songs about violence and resistance, and wholly conveys the spine-tingling atmospherics that are the motif of electronica’s new sensation. HEZEN will stir something in your heart, and under your skin.
Evoking the sublime unease of Massive Attack and the poignant vocal execution of Sia or Thom Yorke, ‘Oil Fire’ is a downtempo electro masterwork, a redolent digitalist ballad underscored by cool trip-hop grooves. HEZEN sings of resilience, of rolling with the punches, as she produces a beautiful take on the maxim what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Created by HEZEN with her iPhone, a macro lens, and with post-production on After Effects, the striking video captures the singer alone in her room, dressed in clay. The results are raw, vulnerable and claustrophobic, making the body seem reptilian at times, or blistered by flame at others, but also suggesting a tough, protective armour, thus apposite for the theme of this bold and unforgettable track.
Hezen: Oil Fire
Hezen: Oil Fire Lyrics:
See how it bends
When you lead the dance
Papercuts on my wrists
See how it twists
But it never breaks
Always stronger than I think
Water
On an oil fire
It looks tender
But when the sap has dried
The bark is rough under your finger
Unforgotten tremors
Under the dust
Men are so eager for justice
No matter
How much harder
It’s only water
On an oil fire
See how it bends
When you lead the dance
Papercuts on my wrists
No matter
How much longer
It’s only water
On an oil fire
Only water
On an oil fire
No matter
How much harder
It’s only water
Only water
Only water
On an oil fire
