R&B/Pop Artist Sereena hails from Greenville, Ohio a small town where she was born and raised. She grew up on a farm located in the middle of nowhere with her parents who ran a small business. Singing as soon as she could talk, Sereena played in garage bands and danced as she grew up.
She moved to Nashville, Tennessee a little over a year ago upon graduation from college so she could further her music career. Her biggest influences and inspirations are Shania Twain, Elvis Presley, and AC/DC which come from outside of her genre of R&B/Pop.
Her highly-anticipated debut single, “You Love Me”, was released in July 2018 and garnered over 25K streams on Spotify. The official music video for the single was released the following month and debuted exclusively on our blog.
Sereena is currently recording her debut album due to be released early in 2019. “Mind Abuse” is the second single off the forthcoming EP.
“Mind Abuse” is a chill pop song that leads you on a somber self-realization journey across a meditative soundscape.
The short intro of the song is a combination of a soothing keyboard complemented by soft electronic drums and synths. Together, they create a serene melody which Sereena’s powerful vocals float effortlessly over. It is here where she sets the stage with the first verse somberly acknowledging her denial of past feelings.
This softly leads into the pre-chorus where Sereena beautifully elongates each word with a soulful touch and a sharpness that illuminates her painful self-realization. She continues this seamlessly with bright, high notes into the chorus. Against a background of flowing, dreamlike harmonies, she achingly confesses to searching for happiness and healing but not finding it.
In the next verse, there is a small emotional shift you can feel. There is a tentative conviction in Sereena’s melancholy-tinged vocals. It soaks the lyrics as they portray a struggle between dealing with her past and with her mind that won’t let her. She slides back into the pre-chorus and chorus once more with the same emotional attack.
A reflective keyboard, electric drum, and synth solo follow the chorus. It is along with this contemplative melody that Sereena adds haunting non-lyric high notes and harmonies as the song winds down. Then she effectively closes it out with a robust chorus that ends with a return to the intro.
“Mind Abuse” is a powerful take on how denying your painful past by substituting your feelings will eventually lead to healing through self-realization.
Highly Recommended. Sereena’s soulful vocal style and songwriting are captivating as she demonstrates on this single. Make sure to put her on your playlist and your watch list. Her debut album will be highly anticipated upon its release next year.
You can purchase “Mind Abuse” on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon
“Mind Abuse” is also available to stream on Spotify.
Follow Sereena on social media:
Instagram: @imsereena
Facebook: i.am.sereena