Amy Winehouse
Back to Black (Island)
LA-based rising pop artist Seanna Pereira told us about her love for a Winehouse classic...
Seanna Pereira: My all-time favorite album, without a doubt, is Back to Black by Amy Winehouse. Her record has influenced me so much as an artist, and even though I might not have understood the impact of every word when I listened to it growing up, her soulfulness allowed me to feel connected to her. One of my favorite songs, “You Know I’m No Good,” has the kind of writing and storytelling that changed how I think about honesty in music. Amy wasn’t afraid to be raw and vulnerable. She put the complicated parts of both her romantic relationships and her relationship with herself right out in the open without downplaying them. That’s something I really try to carry into my own songwriting, especially on my EP Love Department, where I wanted to be just as honest about my own perfectionism and self-doubt as she was about hers.
What captivates me most about the album is the way the production never gets in the way of what she’s actually saying and allows her emotion to shine through. Her soulfulness draws me in right away, and you can feel every word instead of just hearing it. As someone who’s such a perfectionist in the studio, that album taught me that the most powerful moments in a song sometimes come from stripping things back, not continuously adding more. Whenever I’m chasing real vulnerability in my own music, I think about Back to Black and try to remember that my raw honesty and authentic self will always resonate more with my fans than something too perfect ever could.
Seanna Pereria's Love Department EP is out now.
Photo credit: Matty Vogel
