Greentea Peng. Photo by Stefy Pocket
The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.
On "Meditation," a track from Greentea Peng's excellent debut album Man Made, the London-based singer offers a statement of purpose: "Music is my beloved," she sings as a gentle tabla and lustrous keys beckon you into her world. She's never given us a reason to doubt that sentiment before or after the release of the 2021 LP – excitingly, she's given us indications that her relationship with art is evolving.
"Look To Him," the third single from Peng's upcoming project GREENZONE 108, offers insight into her creative process, an undergoing that isn't as seamless as she frequently makes it sound. Her voice has the skippy rhythm of an MC when she sing-raps: "I've been going 'round and 'round / In my head still, I can't work out." Beneath her, the music polishes Peng's dub influence, a longtime component of her style, from a deep haze into a light mist atop the neo-soul groove. Even in a song about being stuck in a loop, Greentea Peng has a way of assuring us that she can find her way back.
"'Look To Him' explores the idea of originality," Peng said in a press statement, "and the notion of tapping into source energy for creativity and inspiration rather than just searching for it amongst your peers and surroundings. At the same time, it challenges the idea that anything is truly original as nothing is truly our own rather seeped into us from a Higher Power and thus channeled from God him/herself."
