Syren – ‘Syberia’ – out now

… digital love plays out in London hip hop artist’s debut

Syren is a 19 year old artist born & raised in London. Making music has never merely been a hobby for Alex Bernard Bell …always knowing that it was music or nothing: “There was no other choice for me, I had to do music, it’s the only thing I really care about.”

In hoping to bring some of the US hiphop qualities to the UK & grow the hiphop scene here, his sound certainly leans in that direction but he likes to feel that his style is always evolving and changing – essential in today’s industry: “I feel if the music I’m making starts to sound extremely similar, I have to switch it up & try new styles, or else it just gets really stale.”

Syren has been making music seriously since around the start of 2018, but that wasn’t the start, he’s been honing his craft for years with a gift for lyrics and storytelling a big part of that creative process.

“Most of my songs are stories either about real shit that happened to me or someone close, or they’re stories about someone I’ve made up in my head. I write like I’m writing a book, some of the shit I write is fiction …I rely more on my flows & melodies”

Syberia is taken from his EP, Synthetic Love. The EP is about fake affection or fake love, possibly digital or love from the future. Inspired by the film Ex Machina, Syren wanted the artwork to resemble the futuristic energy of the EP.

“I expect that in the future love will be different as technology develops, people will have the chance to have relationships with robots rather than real humans. This begs the question, can a robot express true love? To me the love robots would have for someone is not true love but instead they are fulfilling their commands to love.”