Neena Rose takes aim and fires back at someone who’s always shooting her down in her new single and video (You A) Machine Gun — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
The young singer-songwriter’s latest pop-R&B track offers another colourful display of her talents — which only seems fitting coming from an artist who finds music to be a far more kaleidoscopic experience than most people.
“Songs are colourful for me,” explains Rose, who is blessed with the unique synesthetic condition known as chromesthesia, in which sounds are perceived as colours. “Every song I hear or write has a very, very specific colour visual attached to it. I associate certain colours with specific sounds.”
Synesthetes make up just four per cent of the population and are eight times more likely to be artistically inclined. Neena’s heightened ability to colourize sound puts her among the likes of Pharrell Williams, Lorde, Charlie XCX, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, Alessia Cara and Stevie Wonder, so it’s little wonder the 17-year-old Hamiltonian gravitated to the craft.
“I love it all, but writing lyrics is my favourite part of the process,” she muses, reflecting on previous toe dips into nu-country, emo rock, and lofty pop bops before finding her most authentic self in R&B. “It’s always been a thing I love to do. Any time I feel any type of way, I’m writing a song. If I’m happy, I’m writing. If I’m sad, I’m writing.
“And I’m always listening to new beats. Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but it’s not uncommon for me to go into the bathroom at school and listen to music. I’ll play 30 different backing tracks to flesh out what feels right and solidify the sound I’m looking for.”
Between her breakout single — 2018’s Games — and its successors Circles and Rewind, Rose has garnered support from a long list of media and playlisters, setting the stage for the release of her EP 333 later this year.
Watch (You A) Machine Gun above, hear more of her music below, and connect with Neena Rose via her website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
