‘Trying to Be Someone’: S J DENNEY’s Artistic Vision Captured At Just The Right Time

Published on 14 September 2023 at 17:18

Words: Max Bradfield

 

Sometimes timing is everything. It could be cooking something. Comedic timing. Arriving or leaving. Or perhaps, it’s saying something at the right time, in the right way. In the latter’s regard, S J Denney has hit the nail on the head with his summer single ‘Trying to Be Someone’.

 

The Essex-based singer-songwriter has since released another solid showing with ‘Tread Carefully’, yet looking back to June – ‘TTBS' abilities as they now look to run parallel with each other.

 

“’Trying to Be Someone’ is a track I wrote years ago. However, I never felt that I’d captured my artistic vision. Feeling braver than ever, I decided now was the time to tackle one of the best songs I’ve ever written.”

I’m super proud of my piano and guitar playing on this record. It also features a number of session musicians, providing backing vocals, horns, pedal steel guitar, and an erhu.”

 

Denney has every right to be proud of his instrumental ability, yet that pride is more than worthy of extending to every aspect of this track. There’s an effortless presence in his vocals. It’s brave and thoughtful and pairs well with the subtleties of the track. The horn work is sublime. As are the weathered, awe inducing inflections of the steel guitar through the background mist. An erhu too?! Otherworldly… That simply adds another level, showing that Denney has hit the timing sweet spot and spread his creative wings at the truly right time. 

 

 

S J has taken his time to get where he finds himself now. Admittedly, he fell in love with music from an early age, after stumbling across vinyl copies of The Beatles’ White Album and Neil Young’s Harvest. He was originally a choir boy and performed in a number of venues across his local county. His next steppingstone was learning to play the clarinet. Whilst music theory gave a solid foundation, next it was time to self-learn the acoustic guitar and write his own songs.

 

Since those early knockings in singer-songwriter-hood, Denney has performed in various bands, duos, and now as a solo artist. ‘Trying to Be Someone’ is a consummate showing on his crafts, that although are reputable right now, ever-improve. Listen to this track, listen to his latest too as the gig-season approaches. 

 

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