When you press play on Mnelia’s Closure Tapes, it sounds like you are listening to a brand-new artist; yet she has been making music since the release of her debut E.P. 2:4 back in 2018.
The R&B songstress has been one of many waving the R&B flag in the U.K. With the release of her new E.P. Closure Tapes, she shows people why she is somebody we should all be paying attention to.
Coming out the gate swinging, Mnelia released her 7-track 2:4 E.P. as an introduction and followed it up with her breakout single Say Yeah in 2020. Since then, she has been making her way and displaying her distinctive vocals across R&B beats. After undergoing a few life changes, including heartbreak, personal growth and motherhood, she is back with her most substantial release.
Closure Tapes feels like you are stepping into a different space, considering what people may be familiar with in terms of the sound of Mnelia. Not only is this evident in terms of her vocal performance but also lyrically and sonically, which is not surprising when you take into account the people involved in the project from the likes of Bellah, Joyce Wrice, Miraa May and Kwengface, who lend their vocals to the project. As well as the likes of Ari PenSmith, Harmoney Samuels, and Nosa Apollo, to name a few. The EP breathes fresh air and stands out in its quality.
Speaking with Mnelia fresh off her E.P. listening Party, which saw Red Bull UK packed with R&B lovers to embrace the vibes. I had a very heartful and engaging conversation with Mnelia speaking on everything from doing the project, collaboration, the process of change, the next chapter of Mnelia and more.
Starting with the name of the E.P. Closure Tapes, how did that come about?
Everything pertaining to this project was a sequence of gradual revelations, which is funny because the first track on the project is Revelation. It has been quite a full circle because I didn’t look for the name. All I knew about this project was that I wanted it to reflect everything I had gone through. And what I was going through was heartbreak, fresh motherhood, and dealing with the new signee at a major label and all of these things in a pandemic. And the one thing that everyone kept asking me was ‘What do you want?’ And I would have this question asked all the time, and at a point in time, I just said to myself that I want closure. I want to understand why things in my life are happening and how they are happening like this, and I want to have that understanding and just let them be. And then, I realized halfway through the process that it wasn’t closure that I was looking for, but it was closure that I was experiencing. I knew this was a chapter in my life that I would never be able ever to leave behind. It will be something I’m going to revisit in my mind consistently. So, I started to get into the imagery of what that looked like for me, and a massive part of my childhood was that I used to listen to cassettes a lot and would record myself on them. Even with technology now, I’ve carried that on because I use my voice notes as cassettes in the sense that I will voice note everything that I’m going through, which is what I did throughout the entire process of where I was in my life. So my voice memos became my cassette tapes, and then, putting those two things together, I called the project Closure Tapes.
Tell us how and where this production of this EP started for you?
There wasn’t a particular point where I said I was going to do a project. What happened was a sequence of events that led me to a breaking point. And at that breaking point, I was greeted by myself. And it was the part of me that I’d neglected; it was my emotions, my dietary habits at the time. It was every single part of my world that I had allowed to crash. So, I had to reach rock bottom for this project to exist. It started when I had a year, and I didn’t know how I would make it alive out of that year because I didn’t know what I was doing. I was using music to try and soften the blows of what was going on, and it became an escape mechanism in the sense that I wasn’t actually dealing with what was going on, and so even in making music, it wasn’t even something I was necessarily enjoying at the time. So, I had to process that and figure that out, and in doing so, I got new management, and in the process of getting new management, I found a team full of people that understood my vision. I could lean on them and worry about rehabilitating myself for a second. And it was really a thing because there were days when I couldn’t even go to the studio, and everything felt so difficult, and they helped me get through and push it. The first song I wrote was Closure, which ended up being the first single and half of the project title. And all of that came from the process of me finally not running away from myself. The one thing I wanted was to be vulnerable, and that’s what our project allowed me to do. So, it’s been a blessing to be able to make it known.
Was there a particular idea or direction you had in mind before you started writing Closure Tapes?
The way I explain this project from top to bottom is like the top half of the project is all what was happening on the outside, what it looks like on the outside, like, for instance, with the opening track Revelation I’m talking about the fact that I’ve had a baby. And then on the other side of the project, after Nucleus Interlude, the middle track, there’s a distinctive change, and you hear the reason why there’s a distinct change, and that’s because something happens. And then all the tracks after that, apart from the final track, which is there to lift you, are all about the deepness of what is happening and the point of understanding and dealing with what happened.
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The track Wish shows a sudden shift sonically, lyrically and emotionally. What were the reasons for this and what were you trying to achieve by taking things in a different direction?
Wish was a process. It wasn’t a one-session song, so it was the most revisited. We had to go back in and do a lot of undressing because I wanted to incentivize vulnerability on this project and transparency. So that it felt like anyone that does listen to it understands what’s going on; it’s not overdressed, it’s not distracted, it’s just straight to the point. So, when we started making the song, I realized I was doing what I usually do, running away, not being honest and not talking about how I felt. I knew not just anybody would be able to listen to the song and understand what was going on in my head. So we went back to the drawing board a couple of times, and then when I was listening to the final mixed and mastered version of Wish, I broke down and started crying. And it was a process because there were certain points where I would need to be nudged and motivated to finish it because it was like, this is a difficult project for me. Wish is the song on the album where I break down how I feel, how I got here, and what I need to do moving forward. It was the exhale of the project until I got the opportunity to hear it. I needed to understand what purpose it was going to serve. I just knew that I had this song, and it needed to exist because I kept on getting this nudging feeling, finish it, finish it, finish it, finish it. And then I started getting the actual nudge outside from my management. And my manager was like, This needs to be finished; you need to do the song. And I don’t regret it because, in hindsight, now I understand that that song exists to open the chapter of honesty. I can’t move forward and be as honest as I want to be if I was on my Wish.
How has motherhood and being a new mother changed and impacted you as an artist?
A child’s innocence is always the most inspirational thing about them because they’re so naïve that they don’t know a thing. But yet still, they’re just they’re so keen and so eager to live the best life that they know. Ro makes me want to wake up every day and have the best time; it doesn’t matter what we’re doing. He’s just a little hub of love. He reminds me how much love is important to me. He constantly tests my capacity, from patience to happiness, when I feel like I can’t be any prouder. He makes me proud. When I feel like I can’t be tired, he makes me more tired. He is just there just for me to explore all the extremities. He consistently reminds me that I’m not in control and that I have to be accountable, try my hardest, and hold myself responsible for what I’m responsible for. But to be a child is to be free, to be experimental, to be brave, to love without limits. To know, without knowing anything, but to go and act like the world is yours, and I feel like some of these things have translated into how I make music and made this project.
What was the decision to have you son Ro on the opening song Revelation?
I was in the studio making the intro of the project, and then his auntie sent me a video and he was singing, Say Yeah, and that was the first time I’d ever heard him sing. So I quickly replayed it because it was on Snapchat. I quickly replayed it, we recorded it on a microphone, and it was that. There was no other perfect way for me to start this project because, essentially, the reason why I have been away for so long is that I’ve had this baby, and now you guys get to hear this baby. And not only do you guys get to hear this baby, but you get to hear him for why you know me as a singer, and now you get to hear him seeing me in that same way, so I just felt like it was so special to have him on the project. Ge’s been my biggest blessing because he’s taught me so much and made me feel like a bigger human. He’s given me so much value, like I was in denial about who I was until I had him, and now I have him. He consistently reminds me that you can do and be whoever you want and need to do it just to.
You worked with several people on this E.P. including Bellah, Joyce Wrice, Miraa May and Kwengface. Can you talk us through collaboration process and how you brought them on baord?
Everyone on this project has poured into me one way or another, somebody that was a part of my growth process. I take the process of making music very, very, very, very delicately because music is one thing that my emotions are always so sensitive to. Miraa (May’s) son and Ro are best friends, so it’s effortless for me to be cool. I’m just going to have her be on the project. I didn’t even have to think about it. And Bellah is Ro’s godmother. Those two girls are the two who helped me with my breakup the most, apart from my best friend. But In terms of everyone that I collaborated with, from the girls, even down to Joyce Wrice, who someone that I adore. Some of the people that she frequently collaborates with were the ones that even kickstarted the process of me realizing that I was doing a project. We were in L.A. when we made Lalala, that was a big turnaround moment for me because it was the first time I’d gone to L.A. to work, and I made that song and was so proud of myself. From top to bottom, everybody just came together so well, and all the collaborations they’re just so rife, and they were all well-placed. Ro starts the project and his godmother ends the project. My mom is in the middle of the project.
Ari PenSmith was someone that I was so inspired by when I first started making music. When we made the song Déjà Vu I was crying on his shoulder and I had no clue I was going to be able to relate to the song in the way I did. Working with everybody it was just a spiderweb of beautiful connections and beautiful people that care so much about music that it wasn’t necessarily about what the album became and it was more about being able to have a space for my honesty, transparency, and vulnerability. I was actually able to be in sessions and cry and be with people I’ve cried with because everyone on this project knows me deeply, and they know me well.
How did heartbreak, motherhood and changes you have been through impact creative process of making Closure Tapes?
I feel like it’s the same way that everybody processes things. You only realize that you’re going through the change when you’re in the change and the middle of the change; that’s when you have the choice to decide how this is going to affect you. I’ve had a lot of denial in this whole process. I’ve done a lot of fighting myself. I’ve done a lot of pretending I’m not changing or trying to act like the necessary changes. So like doing a lot of brushing off and working like I’m fine as I am; nothing needs to change or reverse things. In whatever process you’re going through, whether it be me, my friends, or a stranger in the street, you’re never, ever going to be ready to house hurt and house pain and change. So if you feel like it, you need to prepare for it. So the best thing to do is take on, which I’m glad I did.
How do you feel this project has influneced your artistry direction as you move on from Closure Tapes?
Every single work I make after this project has to be a child of this project, in the sense that this is where I bookmark Mnelia. So every single part of this timeline of my career has had its purpose. And this genuinely feels at the beginning, which is mad because Say Yeahh was way before this project. But it only feels like I’m just getting started now because I’m genuinely on a mission to walk within the purpose of Mnelia as opposed to the image of Mnelia, in the way that the vibe and what I believe in should be is less about that now and more about like what this music is going to do in years to come.
How do you want your music to make people feel?
I want my music to make people feel seen. I don’t want it to feel happy or sad; these are emotions; they move, come and go, and waver. But the emotion of feeling acknowledged, the feeling, and the sentiment of feeling acknowledged, that’s what I want to put out. So these things will stay with you because you always remember the people who pay attention to you and those who have time for you. And that’s what matters to me because I don’t want to be the sort of artist that comes, makes a couple of songs that make people feel good. I want to be someone there when they don’t know where to look and where to run, you feel that bro Mneila gets me, and that’s it.
Closure Tapes is out now, follow via @mneliaa
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