New Zealand singer-songwriter Sabreen brings together two years of storytelling on ‘Forget Me When I’m Gone’, an ambitious six-track EP spanning pop-rock, folk, country and her South Asian musical heritage.
Previous single ‘Therapy’ opens proceedings with driving percussion, grooving bass and a huge pop-rock chorus before ‘Land Mines’ shifts towards flowing guitars and a more restrained atmosphere. ‘Nina’ pushes elsewhere again, embracing slide guitar, rich harmonies and a dramatic final key change.
But ‘Forget Me When I’m Gone’ reaches far beyond musical experimentation. ‘Countryman’ recounts the story of Chinese-New Zealander gold miner Joe Kum Yung, while ‘Over’ surrounds delicate folk instrumentation with atmospheric production.
The collection concludes with ‘The End’, featuring Rana Hamida and bringing Arabic and South Asian musical traditions into Sabreen’s expanding sound.
Describing the EP as her “proudest artistic achievement”, the 23-year-old songwriter tackles grief, anger, love, relationships and deeply personal struggles across its six songs.
Bold in scope yet intimate in execution, ‘Forget Me When I’m Gone’ is the arrival of an artist determined to make every story count.