There's something arrestingly quiet to "Motherhood," the new single by the up-and-coming folk indie singer-songwriter Enia Sa, like a faint question asked in an echoey room. The London-based artist's latest track is less of a song and more of a gentle, ardent confession, the sound of ache and light in balance.
A stripped-down affair centred on nylon-string guitar and kissed by bluish textures, "Motherhood" creaks under its silence. The silences between notes are purposeful, every pause heavy with feeling, every word measured. Enia draws us into something sacred, a meditation on absence, identity, and the territory of longing. Enia Sa sings down into the silence, not as an accusation but as an invocation. Rooted in Portugal and steeped in the melancholy of fado, Enia Sa explores the complexities of maternal absence and emotional inheritance. "Motherhood" doesn't shout, it listens to grief, to dreams delayed, to the soft strength of taking things as they come. Enia, I've always longed to be a daughter, and look forward to being a mother one day. This twofold ache pings softly through like a heartbeat, leaving room for those of us who have searched for home in someone else's arms. But this is not a song of blame, it's a song of becoming the truth of what wasn't, and growing something tender from it.
Ambitious new single "Motherhood" Releases via The Other Songs. Renowned for her artful sound and DIY approaches, this follow-up single to her debut and recent sold-out London headline show showcases a deepening of identity. Referencing the community work she does with families and young people, as well as her love of folk traditions and soaring West African guitar tones, her music has a grounded feel, like roots burrowing through the soil in search of light.