Elsy Wameyo is an artist whose artistic journey is one that I have felt a unique sense of pride in.
It’s a funny thing to think about, really — our stories are as different as our cultural backgrounds and upbringing. Still, having watched Elsy’s progression as an artist: graduating through the ranks of the South Australian music scene as a teenager, to landing on national and international radars at formative times of young adulthood, I have had the privilege of watching incredible music flourish and explore new directions.
First introduced to audiences in 2018, it was clear that Elsy’s music – while engaging and memorable – was music that had substance and clear vision at its core.
Having migrated to Australia with her family from Kenya at a young age, feelings of displacement and unease have, unfortunately, been connected with Elsy’s journey in finding her identity as a young person. Neither identifying as a “Kenyan” or “Australian”, Elsy instead found comfort and in a way, a sense of home, in music and her faith.
Her experiences were delivered with clarity on early releases ‘Outcast’ and ‘Pastor’, Elsy’s boldness in presenting themes of “home”, as well as delving into her experiences as a young African person growing up in Australia, immediately began turning heads. And with her Nilotic EP in 2022, the urgency and poignancy at the root of Elsy’s music further fleshed out this kaleidoscope of sounds, narrative inspiration and messaging.
Showing such consistent potential made me incredibly excited as a fan and as a music writer. Watching Elsy shine as a performer as her confidence and passion for the craft also grew, it felt like watching her emerge from the chrysalis of youthful uncertainty into something new and empowered.
Her approach to music on her debut album SAINT SINNER comes from a place of reclamation – reclaiming the power behind her voice, her name. As she dutifully reminds the listener, it’s Elsy “with an s-y, not s-i-e.” And we’d best remember it.
Subtle venom weaves its way around honeyed vocals; sometimes seductive, often divinely sharp. It has become a signature of Elsy’s delivery, her confidence fuses passion with determinism and with SAINT SINNER, we have never seen her flex at such an artistic peak.
Having entered the music industry at a formative time in her life, Elsy enjoyed a prolific rise across a short period of time; while this momentum gave her the opportunity to travel the world with her music, it also left her open to the harsh realities of being a woman in this space.
Instead of letting feelings of inadequacy, isolation or dominance from outside forces engulf her, Elsy wiped the slate clean.
There is power in knowing when to take yourself out of situations that no longer serve you; to prioritise your mental and physical peace when darkness threatens to creep in. SAINT SINNER explores this inner struggle with honesty.
In creating this album, Elsy returned to Kenya – the country of her birth acting as a silent but major contributor in the foundation of SAINT SINNER.
In returning home, Elsy rediscovered herself and fell back in love with the hunger and ambition that first directed her to an artist’s life. Singles ‘Piny Lara’, ‘Sinner’ and ‘Umva’ show elevation, as well as savvy production and arrangement maintained by Elsy and a team of talented individuals such as Wuod Omollo, Polycarp and Ywaya Tajiri.
Finding light in darkness; not to mention a return to herself, her faith and her love for music, comes beautifully represented throughout SAINT SINNER, exemplified by tonal shifts on tracks like ‘Ler’, ‘Repurcussions’ and ‘Quagmire’.
Yet while the album is unafraid to learn into its overarching theme of self-empowerment, it is equally as confident in sitting in moments of vulnerability and quiet. Perhaps this is where we get the clearest image of Elsy Wameyo as a person projected at us, the listener, via this record.
Here, we are reintroduced to Elsy; her heart and spirit at peace. Having navigated through an intense period of self-scrutiny and reflection, she emerges a rejuvenated version of herself ready to step into power that has been waiting for embrace.
And I think this is why I feel the pangs of pride when I listen to how complete and grown Elsy sounds on this album.
It is an unfortunate reality of being a career, that sometimes our love for our art is compromised once we enter the business of it. But to see what Elsy has been able to do with feelings of pain; as well as the pressures of identity and faith crises, it is incredibly admirable.
With the arrival of SAINT SINNER, I truly believe we are witnessing an artist standing at the precipice of a chapter that is equal parts exciting and likely, for Elsy, trembling with possibility.
