Skylar Simone’s sweet R&B reintroduction

After a decade in the industry, singer-songwriter Skylar Simone is ready to reintroduce herself. Her new EP Shiver, reestablishes the singer through expansive, forward-thinking R&B taken to great heights by Simone’s silky voice that lands smack dab in the middle of the genre.

Now 22 years old, Simone has spent the last 10 years making a name for herself through jubilant pop-leaning R&B that’s evolved alongside the singer as she’s entered adulthood. She recently signed to Def Jam Recordings, which granted her valuable time in the studio with the legendary Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, a Grammy and Oscar-winning producer known for his work with Rihanna, Janet Jackson and Silk Sonic. Aside from debuting a more mature, and at times sultry, R&B sound, Simone changed her stage name from Skylar Stecker to Skylar Simone around the time of her deal with Def Jam — which is another way she’s taking this opportunity to redefine her artistry.

“To me I kind of classify it [as] my debut project,” Simone says of the EP. “I definitely think it’s kind of a new introduction to who I am, and I think that’s what makes it really exciting.”

The EP’s titular track was the first taste listeners got of the newly envisioned Simone, and the product is a moody, sensual cut that finds the singer laying down seductive, fast-paced breaths behind the chorus in a manner that calls back to the sweat-soaked sounds of the early aughts, from Britney Spears’ In The Zone to Janet Jackson’s Damita Jo.

A clear student of the pop-n-b that defined the early part of the century, the sounds across the EP are an amalgamation of influences. Take the Mariah Carey-esque whistle notes at the end of both “Shiver” and “Shut Up,” for example. The latter of which is a slinky quasi-afrobeat profession of dominance that also reminds one of South-African singer Tyla in the best way. “Oh, you’re dealin’ with a woman (woman)/Show me what you wanna do/I wonder if you want it/Bad as you know I do,” she sings with vigor.

Simone cites Janet Jackson’s career-defining 1986 album Control as an eternal inspiration for all of its taking-the-reigns assertions while also maintaining Jackson’s shy, flirty professions. This duality is present on Simone’s project, through her utilization of both flirty dominance and sweet submission.

“I love that this EP has a lot of feminine [and] masculine energy at the same time,” she says. “I love when music feels very flirty and feminine, but then [is also] very powerful, [from an] almost masculine standpoint where you’re kind of surprised someone is saying those things.”

Surprise comes on the project’s last track “I Wish I Lied,” which has no trouble in demanding, “Talk to me/Stead a treatin’ me with silence/Cuz part of me/Thinks you kept your shit quiet.” This and another song on the EP, “Permission,” are crafted with the kind of emotional precision and vast sounds that create songs fit for filling an arena. They evoke images of an R&B starlet, such as Simone, standing centerstage, wind machines blowing her hair and leading audiences along beside her.

Entering the entertainment industry at a young age (Simone began making television appearances and performing as a young tween) can often have detrimental effects on child stars, but Simone is clearly stronger because of her industry tenure, and sees the place she’s arrived at as being a result of sorting out her identity, both artistic and otherwise.

“I’ve gone through all the cobwebs and sifted everything out and I’ve really figured out who I am really, just even as a person,” she says.

Simone has re-poured the cement of her artistic vision’s foundation, so-to-speak, and the music is more current, fresh and intoxicating than ever. “I’m definitely very unapologetically myself,” she says. “I just want people to be able to see that as transparently as possible through the music.”