Cecily - Awakening Pt. II (Album)

‘Awakening Pt. II’ is the new album from Washington DC-based vocalist and songwriter Cecily (ses-suh-lee). Known for her agile soprano and honest lyrics, the project was inspired by the text All About Love by Black Feminist writer bell hooks and features previous singles “I Am Love” and “A Flower In Winter” which saw support from Jazz FM, Triple R, Soho Radio and Stereofox.

“Awakening Pt. II” explores unconditional love and its transformative power. Going beyond the romantic, Cecily dives into what hooks called a Love Ethic and examines how love can grow in each part of our loves and in society through familial love, self-love, divine love, and love of Mother Nature. “bell hooks said, “All awakening to love is spiritual awakening” and that’s how I felt when I wrote these songs and more broadly in my journey to awakening to love.” In crafting a thematic album Cecily pays extra attention to the individual identities and styles of each track. Working with the likes of Jenna Camille, Muhsinah, Allyn Johnson, Zachary Cutler and Jacob Ungerleider, the LP travels through the realms of Jazz, Soul and R&B with tenderness and musician precision.

Focus track “Come Home” is an ode to the comforting familiarities of home. Reminiscing on the specifics of “baked apples in the morning”, “Nintendo in the attic” and “dancing to Jackson 5 tunes”, Cecily’s soothing vocals are a guiding light on a detailed and blissfully nostalgic trip down memory lane, set against the plea of the track’s title: “Please come home”. Through intricate storytelling, she allows the listener an insight to what home means both for Cecily the child – for whom home is a place of wonder - and the adult, looking back: “The grace of childhood seems far away”.