Elmiene: A much-needed ‘sounds for someone’ album arrives March 27
Forget waiting until the summertime. How about preparing to secure crooner Elmiene’s much-needed sounds for someone album as soon as March 27? Oh yes.
Elmiene’s ‘sounds for someone’ album is locked in for the spring
The musician’s music always hits but something about having a full-fledged studio project brewing? Oh yes. Peep the deets.
Rising British-Sudanese songwriter and vocalist Elmiene announces the release of his debut album sounds for someone out March 27th via Def Jam Recordings. The project is a deeply intimate meditation on love, loss, and legacy—born from Elmiene’s relationship with his late father and shaped by both his own memories and the stories carried by his mother. The 12-track album listens as much as it speaks, capturing grief, tenderness, and the ache of what remains. Pre-order sounds for someone January 15th at 8:30am PT here.
sounds for someone takes listeners on an emotional rollercoaster through a 2-decade journey of familial ups and downs that has shaped how Elmiene sees the world and also himself. Kicking off with the emotional rester that is “Moment” - Elmiene invites you right into the room, as he croons about a thankless, formless champion of the downtrodden, with a subtle swing-like lilt that cradles you while setting the stage for an exploration of various highs and lows. The new album hosts features from GRAMMY Award winning singer / songwriter Raphael Saadiq and rising vocalist Baby Rose with production support across the project from Sampha and Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman as well as GRAMMY Award winning producers No I.D, Raphael Saadiq, and more.
“Making this album was painful, I felt lonely sometimes, I felt loved sometimes. I felt guilty sometimes and I felt forgiven sometimes but most of all it was an important duty to myself that I needed to fulfil.”
Elmiene couples the album announcement with the debut of his brand new single “Reclusive” which unveils Elmiene’s inner thoughts by exploring his contemplation of going outside and being social versus embracing his natural instinct to remain in his comfort zone of solitude. Watch here.
Produced by Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman,“Reclusive” is built on gentle piano keys and an unexpectedly upbeat groove that moves the lyrics in a way where it feels like a diary page left open. The lyrics move through various scenes of staying inside, playing video games and talking himself out of leaving the house, all while questioning whether solitude is protecting him or holding him back. The accompanying music video depicts Elmiene standing in a crowded elevator amplifying the discomfort he finds in socializing through a series of handshakes and attempted yet reluctant conversations.
“I’m grateful for a pretty debilitating sickness I had in December 2024, it’s the reason this song exists. When writing ‘Reclusive,’ the goal was to make it painfully autobiographical, zooming in on the most mundane moment of my life and seeing if it could carry a song. Turns out it could. Biz Markie was a huge inspiration, he mastered making everyday life feel funny, honest, and memorable, all tied together with a genius hook. I’m trying my best to do the same here.”
