Little Simz is Powerful on ‘Flood,’ Our Song of the Week

Every week, Consequence’s Songs of the Week column spotlights great new songs from the previous seven days and takes a look at notable releases. Find our new favorites and more on our Top Songs playlist, and for other great songs from emerging artists, check out our New Sounds playlist. This week, Little Simz shares an extract from her sixth full-length album.

Little Simz has a three-dimensional approach to her artistry. She exhibits an immense amount of care in crafting a song, and then when a track invokes a specific visual, she works painstakingly to bring it to life. Her discography is rich with examples of this dedication to craft, and the latest has arrived in the form of “Flood,” an entrancing, earth-shaking introduction to her recently announced album, Lotus.

Alongside Nigerian vocalist Obongjayar and South African artist Moonchild Sanelly, Simz has crafted a thunderous statement on evading those who don’t have our best interests at heart. She builds from the ground up, rooting the track in a heavy, thrumming beat perfectly complimentary to her low, raspy, pointed growl. Throughout the song, she navigates the people who end up being “all bark and no bite,” characterized as snakes, hyenas, devils, and clones. “They want you to stop, then they leave you to rot/ But that’s just not my frequency, man.”

The music video for “Flood” feels like an essential component to the story being told here. There’s an otherworldly, ritualistic energy to the visual, which sees Simz, Obongjayar, and Moonchild Sanelly backed by dancers who have donned ram’s heads to course through hypnotic movement from choreographer Kloe Dean. When coupled with the fine-tuned lyrics, the effect is immersive; Simz is outpacing her demons, and she’s giving us a roadmap to do the same.

She’s someone worth emulating, after all. Over the past decade, she’s crafted a deeply impressive discography that balances the vulnerable with the empowering. She’s described herself as experimental in the past, and she’s proven it time and time again by invoking jazz themes, synth-rock, and London grime. Versatility isn’t always something that can be taught, but Simz is the sort of curious and dedicated creative who can meld influences without seeming scattered, thanks to her rock solid artistic identity. Her North Star is a direction in which she’s blatantly confident.

“The last 12 months has been my year of the Lotus,” she explained via Instagram when announcing her new chapter.  “Learned how to thrive in muddy waters. The time of bloom is now.” With the floodgates unleashed, how lucky we are to witness the rebirth.

— Mary Siroky
Associate Editor