“Won’t ask you to say sorry / we can just move on / pick up where we left off / what do you say?” sings 26-year-old Sasha Keable on her new single titled Exception. A soulful R&B track produced by the musicians own record label ‘Peach House Records’, it navigates her feelings of desperation during a turbulent breakup.

Sublime, moving and artful can describe the new release. It seems to transcend a single emotion conveying an ethereal collective experience - each of us knows her pain, but each of us has experienced it uniquely. Simply put, to listen to Sasha’s music is to become immersed in her raw pain and visceral frustrations.

Beloved in the UK, Sasha takes advantage of her lyrical prowess to reflect on heartbreak, men, sex and more. The South London-born artist is best known for her dynamic vocal capabilities and her poignant lyrics. “And I don’t give second chances, but if you make those advances, you could be my exception,” she riffs on the track. Taking inspiration from Motown and 70s soul and R&B artists like Donny Hathaway, it's no question the passion and talent that goes into Sasha’s work.

Coeval had the chance to catch up with Sasha for a conversation delving deep into her childhood, her creative process, and the release of her newest single, Exception, dropping 26/02/21.

Can you tell us about your childhood and how you were drawn to music?

My childhood was alright, I was quite within myself I guess. I was drawn into music when my parents split up, we didn’t have much money, so we didn’t have a TV. He [dad] would print off tabs of songs and to entertain ourselves when he got back from work, he would play guitar and I would sing along. Then he realised “oh shit you can sing”. I wanted to be a vet originally, but someone broke my dreams by telling me I would be broke my entire life, bitch. Like who tells a 7-year-old that.

When I realised I could sing, I wanted to start playing piano. My dad found someone giving away a piano on the Morrison’s community board & they delivered this upright piano to my house for like 20 quid. It was awful but I loved it. Honestly the sound was horrific. I then started writing songs when I was 10/11. I fell in love with writing music before singing. As soon as I realised I could write songs myself I realised I didn’t have to listen to what other people put in front of me and I could make it myself.

Who did you listen to growing up and how have they influenced your sound?

When I was younger, I went through stages of liking different music like I listened to RnB with my sister like Ray J. My dad listened to a lot of rock music and metal and my mum used to play pure Colombian music but I’m not sure if that influenced me that much. Then I started to listen to a lot of Donny Hathaway from my uncle when I was 10 and I was like “wow” I can’t believe someone can sing like this. I used to listen to a lot of 70s music and Motown - I liked how passionate the songs were and liked a lot of heartbreak music because I’m a bit of a drama queen. So yeah, I guess 70s and Motown shaped me as a musician and is where I take most of my influence from.

What are some of the themes that you explore in your work, and why are they important to you?

I love writing about relationships or anything that’s in my life at the time. I disconnect quite quickly from music. Once I wrap up a project I tend to not go back and listen to it again because it’s like going back through a little journal of that time in my life. Relationships are my favourite subject to write about really because they’re up and down and tumultuous so it’s a good topic to write about.

Your next single is a beautifully poignant song called “Exception” - what can you tell us about your inspirations and its meaning?

It was written during a breakup and I wanted the person to drop all the “breaking up shit” and just get back with me. If you listen to the lyrics it sounds quite sad now, but it was written in a tongue-and-cheek or cocky way. Afterwards, once the reality of the breakup settled in and we were arranging the song it hit me how sad it was that I thought the person was going to drop everything and take me back. I think it’s funny how things evolve even during the writing process.

‘Exception’ seems to be erupting with frustration and sadness whilst maintaining an up-beat flow. Because of this I’m particularly curious about the relationship that may have inspired and informed this song - so, what can you tell us about this?

It was tumultuous and like all long relationships coming to an end it was complicated.

Can you describe the creative process you followed to create ‘Exception’?

So, I wrote it with Geo just at my house just the piano and vocals like I write 95% of my songs and then took it to the band and wrote all the other musical elements to it and fleshed it out that way. It was a quick song to create, we didn’t really struggle with coming up with the sound- the most interesting part was it was written in a tongue in cheek way and then did become different. I always listen to it and think “bless you Sash, you’re so fucking naive. You actually thought you could write a tune like that and you genuinely thought that was how it was going to pan out” but it didn’t.

What has been your favourite part of creating ‘Exception’?

Full band writing and recording is great as the fully realised idea comes together. The video was also fun to do, it’s the pay off of it all really. It did just start as a normal fucking day and now we have a song coming out and people kind of give a fuck...

What has been a highlight in your career so far?

Probably, putting out my last EP because everything was so up and down and that moment when it got released and I was sitting in a cafe with my sister and step-mum and I burst into tears. I was so proud of myself and was a personal highlight- it meant a lot.

So, following the release of ‘Exception’, what will be next for Sasha Keable?

Something big.