U.K. artist Deyaz has long used music as a therapeutic outlet but his intensely personal acoustic songs have also unsurprisingly resonated with the thousands of people who listen to him online. Understanding the fountainhead of affecting vulnerability that pours from his songs hinges on acknowledging the severe hardships that needle his past. Born in East Ham, London the now 21-year-old Deyaz found in music like so many other teenagers a cathartic respite from the crises and anxieties of life.
Debut EP WHY NOT (2022) slips between buoyant alt-rock and a flow of eviscerating bars that wrestle with everything from houselessness and addiction to their effects on his mental health. Tracks like the propulsive confessional “My Ways” and “The Fall,” a soul-tearing confrontation with self-detrimental love, reveal the sonic roots of his fledgling musical efforts. Just before he entered his teens, Deyaz learned by ear alone how to play albums by Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains using his brother’s guitar.
He then fortified those individual studies with guitar lessons that led to a scholarship to London’s Guildhall music school — though he eventually left this musical education in favor of a less formal path. That decision proved the right one for Deyaz, who expanded his knowledge, skill, and consequently his sound into jazz and classical music. He also developed a proficiency in playing the piano, bass, and drums — the latter through time spent filling in as a drummer for Camden punk outfits — as well as a studio engineer for East London’s prolific rap scene.
Everything he creates orients itself around a desire to foster deep authenticity and organic expression through his art. Last year he took another step toward that goal with his sophomore EP TRANSPARENCY. The title track “I’ll Scream (All The Words)” (feat. Jessie Reyez) unfolds as a bleeding attempt to hold onto love, the pair’s lucent words interwoven by an anguished acoustic melody. Although his poignant guitar work is a focal point of a majority of the songs — like his last collection — it also fluctuates vigorously from pensive instrumentals to thunderous anthemics (“Small World”) and a flurry of urgently danceable beats (“You”).
His first single of the new year “Silicone Heart” finds Deyaz tapping once more into that wellspring of lyrically raw tenderness. “A broken trust is hard to mend / Watch my silicone heart bounce back again,” he sings wearied and reeling. “Ain’t no loyalty here, just fallen leaves / Ripped one by one by your autumn breeze.” The song is an emotionally catastrophic reminder that Deyaz need only wrap his pained translations of the heart in a gentle acoustic breeze to leave you completely gutted.
A sign of his inevitable rise he also became one of the many rising talents to perform for COLORSxSTUDIOS. With ardent effortlessness, exuding an earnestly unguarded intimacy, Deyaz appears before a suitably glum shade of blue. Eliciting from the strings of his instrument all the warmly agonizing memories that gush from his heartache.
Words: Steven Ward
Visit Deyaz on his TikTok and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Watch Deyaz perform “Silicone Heart” for COLORSxSTUDIOS below!
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The post Artists You Should Know: Deyaz appeared first on Grimy Goods.
Debut EP WHY NOT (2022) slips between buoyant alt-rock and a flow of eviscerating bars that wrestle with everything from houselessness and addiction to their effects on his mental health. Tracks like the propulsive confessional “My Ways” and “The Fall,” a soul-tearing confrontation with self-detrimental love, reveal the sonic roots of his fledgling musical efforts. Just before he entered his teens, Deyaz learned by ear alone how to play albums by Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains using his brother’s guitar.
He then fortified those individual studies with guitar lessons that led to a scholarship to London’s Guildhall music school — though he eventually left this musical education in favor of a less formal path. That decision proved the right one for Deyaz, who expanded his knowledge, skill, and consequently his sound into jazz and classical music. He also developed a proficiency in playing the piano, bass, and drums — the latter through time spent filling in as a drummer for Camden punk outfits — as well as a studio engineer for East London’s prolific rap scene.
Everything he creates orients itself around a desire to foster deep authenticity and organic expression through his art. Last year he took another step toward that goal with his sophomore EP TRANSPARENCY. The title track “I’ll Scream (All The Words)” (feat. Jessie Reyez) unfolds as a bleeding attempt to hold onto love, the pair’s lucent words interwoven by an anguished acoustic melody. Although his poignant guitar work is a focal point of a majority of the songs — like his last collection — it also fluctuates vigorously from pensive instrumentals to thunderous anthemics (“Small World”) and a flurry of urgently danceable beats (“You”).
His first single of the new year “Silicone Heart” finds Deyaz tapping once more into that wellspring of lyrically raw tenderness. “A broken trust is hard to mend / Watch my silicone heart bounce back again,” he sings wearied and reeling. “Ain’t no loyalty here, just fallen leaves / Ripped one by one by your autumn breeze.” The song is an emotionally catastrophic reminder that Deyaz need only wrap his pained translations of the heart in a gentle acoustic breeze to leave you completely gutted.
A sign of his inevitable rise he also became one of the many rising talents to perform for COLORSxSTUDIOS. With ardent effortlessness, exuding an earnestly unguarded intimacy, Deyaz appears before a suitably glum shade of blue. Eliciting from the strings of his instrument all the warmly agonizing memories that gush from his heartache.
Words: Steven Ward
Visit Deyaz on his TikTok and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Watch Deyaz perform “Silicone Heart” for COLORSxSTUDIOS below!
This post may contain affiliate links. Ads and affiliate links are how independent blogs like Grimy Goods can operate and pay our staff. Thank you for supporting our work and being a part of our music community.
Thanks for reading, check out Grimy Goods for more awesome stuff.
The post Artists You Should Know: Deyaz appeared first on Grimy Goods.