Sebastian Kole has helped a number of notable people land hits. He co-wrote and co-produced Alessia Cara’s “Here,” has co-written for Jennifer Lopez, and dabbled in producing music for TV with Grey’s Anatomy. Now, the singer/songwriter is focusing on his own project, SOUP, jetting here and there to promote his latest release, and introducing the world to his sound.
Kole’s SOUP LP is a blend of R&B, pop, southern country, and gospel songs for people dealing with the ups and downs of love, which he acknowledges by admitting he’s not so great at relationships. “Me and all of my exes are really good friends, but every time they hear a song they call me, they’re like, ‘Did I do that?’ Most of these songs are just things I wish I’d said at the time,” he told ESSENCE. However, Kole is a hopeless romantic who pressures himself to make everything perfect, adding, “I believe in love to such a degree that it’s almost unfair.” The singer says he’s a “good luck Chuck,” splitting with exes who end up marrying the guy after him.
He’s honest about everything and candid about his relationships. Kole admits that “Stay,” a heartfelt song about staying with the one you love through it all, is one of the most personal songs on the album. In it, he sings, “But you don’t believe me do you / You don’t mean it when you leave me do ya / We say goodbye when we should say goodnight / Cause we know that we’ll try in the morning.”
“As a writer, as a songwriter, sometimes you write something and you think, ‘That didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to,’ but “Stay” came as close as possible to the feelings I wanted to portray,” he revealed.
Love might be a tough task for Kole, but the artist’s new album is all about being himself. From content to sound, everything presented is truly who he is: “I wanted to be unapologetically whoever I am.”
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Who is the singer? A homebody with a taste for unique liquors. “Here” is not just about Cara’s need to flee a party for some time alone, but Kole’s own anti-party declaration. “I’m a homebody, so relaxing to me is laying on my couch or watching a documentary on Netflix,” Kole said, before admitting that he also has a collection of liquor he enjoys during his downtime. Kole likes to stop by wine and alcohol stores and distributors in Los Angeles to inquire about new, unique beverages hitting the shelves: “The weird thing about L.A. is that you just go to the most random package stores and just ask. Right now I’m drinking a brandy from Armenia. I like to drink and read.”
But judging by the time Kole puts into his work, it doesn’t seem like he gets a lot of drinking and reading done. “Last summer I wrote 200 songs – last summer alone! I write a lot, I write all the time,” he said. “I feel like music has to be very right now, so I’ll probably just catalog that stuff and write about what’s on my mind at the time.”
He says next year, he’ll be just as busy writing for other people and himself, bringing new sounds to 2017: “I feel like music should be fresh. I’ve got lots and lots of songs I’ve written for myself and other people, so you’ll be hearing from me soon, hopefully.”