Track of the Day: Célia Tiab - 'BIBIBI'

Soft Boy Records is introducing the newest artist to their talent roster in the form of Célia Tiab, with the blues-inflected 'BIBIBI'.

Opening with warped, warm drum beats and a honey-toned voice that grabs you from the first note, the single is all chilled out ambience and earnest, diaristic vignettes.

"I won't go too far, I promise...I won't go too far, I swear," she croons, with angelic falsettos and smooth utterances. "Trapped in this madness I just cannot sleep."

The French-born singer/songwriter now lives in Belfast, but was raised by musical parents on a melange of soul, jazz and folk music. She began playing in bands in her early teens, exploring the guitar and writing her own songs, having now found her sound in a mesh of R&B, trip-pop & soul.

'BIBIBI' marks her first cut as a solo artist, developing the record back in 2019 in the kitchen of her tiny apartment in Lyon, France alongside collaborator Brién.

"I originally produced it with electric guitar and programmed drums, wrote the lyrics and chords all at once - Peter (Brién) and I ended up using the original guitar take, and some of the backing vocals," Tiab explains. "The lyrics, melody, chords and even the title are also unchanged - I want this first release to capture as truthfully as possible who I am and the vision I had at the time!”

Célia previously featured on the 2018 Brién track ‘Can I Lie With U’, after which Célia was welcomed into the Soft Boy Records family, where she went on to work with Gaptoof on ‘Forget U’ and Kojaque on his critically acclaimed debut album Town’s Dead, alongside the likes of Biig Piig and Maverick Sabre.

Her vocals on 'Coming Up' and 'Sex & Drugs' made the Kojaque tracks stand out numbers, landing on some of Spotify's biggest playlists across Ireland, the UK and beyond. She's also appeared on some of Cork producer 1000 Beasts' song 'NYCBB'.

‘BIBIBI’ features Ben Flavelle-Cobain on fretless bass and is co-produced by Célia and Brién.

Listen to 'BIBIBI' below.