To be considered one of the greats of your genre is a rare feat, but it’s a title that singer SiR can comfortably claim. The LA native is a master storyteller and comes from a family of talented musicians raised in church. He credits his older brother as the reason he pursued the path of an artist. “He helped create SiR. Without him being the singer that he is, I would never have wanted to be a singer or an artist or anything like it,” he says over a Zoom call. Since the release of his first album Seven Sundays in 2015, SiR has become a classic voice of contemporary R&B. But when he pulls up one of his recent playlists featuring the likes of Elton John, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Sam Cooke, it’s clear that his palette was shaped by legends of the past. “Records from the 60s, 70s, 80s, they were just so emotionally driven and written. And you know, I definitely pull a lot from those bags,” he says before effortlessly breaking into song with one of his current favourites All That I Need Is Some Time by Tom Jones.
The Grammy-nominated singer speaks with warm optimism, always carrying a bright smile and engaging energy. It’s a testament to his strength of character and growth after working through his struggles with addiction and depression in the last four years. SiR courageously delves deeper into his former battles on his latest 2024 album Heavy. He describes it as one of his most vulnerable albums yet. “Writing it was very out of body for me. Yes, it’s very personal. Yes, some of the stuff is embarrassing but…I’m on the other side of it so sharing the music didn’t feel as hard as I thought it would,” he says.
The album was written for himself but he says he curated the track list with fans in mind. In sharing some of his toughest times with the world, SiR hopes that others also find healing in their own. After all, one of the superpowers of music is making a complete stranger feel a little less alone. While releasing such a personal project wasn’t daunting, playing the music live still stirs emotion in the artist. “Singing the songs over and over again, that’s very difficult. There are certain songs that just make me emotional. That’s OK but once I got the music off my chest, shared it with the fans and they responded the way they did. I was happy.”
One of the signatures of a SiR song is candid lyricism that feels like an intimate dive into his deepest thoughts. He says he’s not one to journal but music serves the same therapeutic role. “In the moments where I can’t explain myself or have words that I can’t express to other people, I’ll write it down. As a songwriter, writing it down means writing a song half the time,” he says. “I’ve never been the type of person to write in a diary. I found the emotional release from writing songs is unmatched.”
Music and nostalgia go hand in hand, so just as every SiR fan has distinct memories and emotions connected to his music, he also has some nostalgic favourites of his own. “There’s a song by BADBADNOTGOOD called Time Moves Slow. It has a guy named Sam Herring singing lead and when I hear that song it takes me back to the first time I heard it. I don’t know why or what I was going through, I was in Australia with Kendrick at the time and I cried my eyes out,” he says. “I love those type of records that that keep you emotionally attached and you can’t separate the emotion from the actual music. As you get older, you learn that working [through] your emotions is a muscle like anything else.”
SiR’s understanding of the power music so clearly translates into his own and it’s why his shows have crowds passionately singing his songs back to him word for word. “I usually make these songs in my drawers at the house, you know what I mean, in my comfort. And for the music to travel how it does, and for people to respond the way they do when they hear the songs live, it’s just it’s awe inspiring,” he says. Art seems to be a preordained destiny for the singer. It’s a path that has not only enriched his own life, but those of so many of his listeners. “There’s no rhyme or reason to my creativity. It happens on God’s time. It took me years to figure out. Everything that I write and everything that I do creatively is not even my own. It’s just being passed through a vessel.”
This online exclusive has been produced by
photography. Lewis Vorn
fashion. Holly Macdonald
talent. SiR
grooming. Tariq Howes @ Leftside Creative
fashion assistant. Jack Clements
creative production. Clara La Rosa
video. Brandon Hepworth
words. Shama Nasinde
