Auckland up-and-comer Denel‘s latest single Come Home infuses ballad style pop with urban RnB, sharing a message of “unity, love and positivity”. Written and produced by Denel himself, Come Home is the follow up to Kick It, which debuted at #10 on the Hot 20 NZ Singles chart and has since racked up over 140k streams on Spotify alone. NZM asked Denel to take us through his thoughts in creating this new single.

The Come Home song started out as an idea I thought of literally a week before the first lockdown we had here in NZ. I kept hearing ‘self-isolation’ everywhere and I instantly thought that would be such a dope line in a song – that’s where the first line came from.

Because I have the amazing privilege of being able to write and produce my own music, I was able to see the track come to life within hours of first starting it. I really wanted this track to be somewhat of a ‘love’ anthem while, at the same time, maintaining its roots in pop and RnB. The response so far has been amazing so I’m grateful that something I’ve created myself has connected with people already!

The lines that resonate with me the most would have to be in the third verse. That whole third section is almost like the ‘redemption’ part of the song. Even though you know you’ve lost someone, or are going through something, it’s not the end of the story. There’s still a chance for change or in this case, a chance to make it ‘back to love’.

Musically, I loved being able to create different dynamics throughout the song. Going from a simple ballad-style piano chord progression in the verses, to a bigger ‘hook’ or chorus with strings and the like really gives the track different dynamics as the listener journeys through it.

Really excited for the upcoming music as I feel I’m on the right wavelength, sound-wise, and this track is definitely a taste of what’s to come!