Skiifall’s voice tells a story. There are the Caribbean inflexions of his birthplace in St. Vincent, the slightly harder-to-place traits of his bilingual upbringing in Montreal, and the slang that manifests both – a hybrid identity formed in opposition. It’s this unique blend that helped project Skiifall’s breakthrough single “Ting Tun Up” to international acclaim back in 2020, sounding simultaneously familiar and entirely fresh. These threads also gradually disentwine on his latest EP Lovers Til I’m Gone, which sees the OVO-cosigned vocalist return to the sandy shores of his childhood.
For an artist who made his name driving the drill sound forward, Lovers Till I’m Gone marks a sharp left turn – a 180, even, back to the reggae and lovers rock classics he heard growing up. It’s a surprisingly compelling fit, with Skiifall unveiling a timeless singing voice that could easily go toe-to-toe with the likes of Beres Hammond and Horace Andy, alongside production from Kenny Beats and a choice feature from Jorja Smith.
When we sit down for coffee in East London, Skiifall explains that this new sonic direction was partly driven by a desire to make music that his mum would like to listen to. “It’s really cool to have fresh, new music that sounds similar to what our parents – or their parents – would have listened to way back when,” he explains, “If someone was to approach them and be like, ‘Yo, do you remember these songs from when you were young?’, I feel like they would all pass that test.” https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/65814/1/how-skiifall-reconnected-vincentian-heritage-new-ep-lovers-till-im-gone