Sometimes clarity means moving away from the places where you’ve staked your dreams and quieting the noise of outsiders in order to hear your voice. For Denitia, that meant getting out of Brooklyn—where she’d met musical partner Brian Marc to form futuristic soul duo Denitia and Sene—to the Rockaways. In the placid Queens suburb, the singer-songwriter searched for herself in the music she was making, a portion of which she offers up on her new EP.
Ceilings is Denitia’s most fully formed solo outing. It’s more an expansion of last year’s love and noir. project from Denitia and Sene than of her guitar-soul work of old. Musically, the compact four-song EP, which was co-produced by Daniel Schlett, dances in colorful dream and electro pop tones, accented by Denitia’s satiny vocals. In principle, it’s a manifestation of the Houston-native shedding the “protective layers her career had imposed and rediscover[ing] what songs and sounds came naturally to her.”
There’s a sense of vulnerability in her lyrics, but she sounds confident standing in her own radiance. On opener “Bound to Happen,” she’s clear-eyed, taking stock and ready to move forward the “one way [she] want[s] it.” The synths stab through the bass as assured as Denitia sounds for a dense, cinematic effect. The narrative advances on the summery “Waiting,” which finds her in a perpetual chase of the unattainable. “We’re all just waiting, we’re all the same/Looking for a reason, looking for a change,” she sings, capturing a feeling of overcome angst; a breezy saxophone melody carries the song out.
Denitia tends towards upbeat, brighter textures here, but the EP’s darkest moment is also one of its most vivid. The title track slows the pace to a crawl, the seclusion that inspired the project at its most palpable. The production, evocative of an aural heaven, is unhurried and delicate, and Denitia’s voice is given room to soar. Rising to the occasion, her vocals feather across the glowing synths without flaw. Despite the somber sound, “Ceilings” is marked by a level of rosiness (“I will see you again/We will meet in dreams” she sings on the hook) rather than defeatism that comes with missing someone or something. It’s convincing and tugs at the heart.
”Planes” snaps the EP back to a more cheery space as it brings everything to a close. The piano and percussion combination makes the track feel effervescent and hopeful even though the search of the preceding songs isn’t resolved. The sounds become fuzzy and distant, and a bell tolls as if Denitia is soon to wake up from this hypnotic state.
In leaving behind the city’s bustle, she also found a new musical territory that seems to suit her. The EP is as spacious as her beach-side community—the potential possibilities are visible on the horizon and within reach, but the pressure to navigate them in this moment is absent. Her liberation or, as she calls it, her “awakening” give the project an overarching sense of peace. It’s brief, but it’s there, and with Ceilings, she proves the music of her own heart is the strongest.
