The term “Florilegium” has many meanings. In literature, it means a collection or anthology of short literary pieces, such as poems or ballads. In Latin, it translates to a gathering of flowers. However, for Uwade, the word felt like the perfect summation of her own meadow of stories amassed over five years of loss, growth, and exploration. While arranging her bouquet of life, she selected flowers from every phase of her existence, from her father’s death to emotional crises over feeling like a failure. Each petal is colored by her experience, blooming as she reveals her innermost feelings and desires.
The Nigerian-born and North Carolina-raised singer-songwriter and musician’s star began rising when Fleet Foxes discovered her singing a cover of their song “Mykonos” on Instagram. After listening to her soulful rendition, they enlisted her to sing on their Grammy-nominated record, Shore. Following her collaboration with the well-known indie folk band, she hit the road opening for artists such as Jamila Woods, Sylvan Esso, and the Strokes. With a handful of singles under her belt, Uwade has crafted her debut album, Florilegium, a genre-bending array of enthralling vocals, vehement lyricism, and a colorful cornucopia of instrumentation.
The album opens with “The Place in the Sky,” a dedication to Uwade’s father, who passed away in 2020. Her vocals carefully waltz alongside soft percussive accompaniment and hymnal harmonies as she sings, “Don’t tell me no / I want to go to the place in the sky / I’ll find my way if not today, so no one ask me why / I’m going home to all I’ve known, I wish that I could stay / But when the spirit beckons you what more is there to say?” It’s a heartbreaking opener riddled with grief but packed with sonic beauty. Uwade’s ethereal, layered harmonizing almost feels like a conversation with herself as she works through her feelings around her dad’s passing. Kindred stories of anguish appear in “Clearer Through You” and “Lost in Translation,” where she digs into understanding a version of herself without her father and a contemplation of her identity as a young adult.
Similar to the spectrum of sounds and stories on her LP, Uwade is also a chameleon in her daily life. When she isn’t in the studio or on the road, she is pursuing a PhD from Stanford to round out her already impressive achievement of studying literary classics at Columbia and Oxford. “(I Wonder) What We’re Made Of” was directly inspired by her studies digging into Cicero’s 2000-year-old treatise on friendship, De Amicitia. The head-bopping R&B track is an ode of gratitude to her friends who have helped her through difficult times. “May you see the sun shine fondly on your garden / Show me all the things that grow / May you never let your gentle heart be hardened / Call me when you’re missing home,” she sings over chugging drum beats, glossy guitar strums, and funky synth.
Sonically, Florilegium is the perfect blend of Uwade’s Nigerian roots and American upbringing. Songs like the indie pop influenced “Call It A Draw” and subdued R&B groove “Eventime” were inspired by her teen years in Charlotte, while “Harmattan” and “Amenaghawon” draw inspiration from West African styles and afro beats. Meanwhile, slower tracks like “The Second Station” and the piano-driven “Lost In Translation” showcase her vocal prowess—gorgeous and powerful, reminiscent of legends like Nina Simone and Roberta Flack, who also hail from Uwade’s home state of North Carolina. The diversity in genres results from a childhood spent listening to Dolly Parton with her mother, Nigerian Highlife with her father, and a teenage obsession with indie rock and R&B. There are influences everywhere from Fela Kuti to Vampire Weekend littered throughout the nine tracks, all filtered through Uwade’s unique and enthralling vision.
“Harmattan” and “Amenaghawon” also directly reference Uwade’s Nigerian heritage. The striking drum beat in the former is inspired by an Esan dance masquerade called Egbabonelimhin. This track is the most instrumentally rich on the album, with harp-like guitar, thumping percussion, wailing trumpet, shimmering keys, and recorded hand claps all featured throughout. Additionally, “Amenaghawon” features her mother speaking a proverb in Edo, the native language of her home state in Nigeria, that means “the water you’ll drink,” which is a piece of a longer saying about destiny. Her mother’s influence also appears, though this time behind the scenes, on “Clearer Through You,” which originally demoed as a folk-inspired song. Uwade’s mother’s suggestion turned the song into a dancier tune thanks to her mother’s love for what she refers to as “hot” tracks—songs with more upbeat rhythms—similar to the energetic Nigerian music she was raised on.
Although there were many outside influences on Florilegium, from Uwade’s upbringing to her love of many musical styles, her enchanting voice and distinct perspective tie the record together. Although she drifts between genres from one song to the next, her musings on life, loss, and friendship, sung with her rich, soulful tone, create a feeling of unity. Similar to a short story collection or an artist’s body of work, things change over time, but the artist’s voice is still at the center. Uwade gave us more than one piece of herself in her debut: She opened the gates to her garden that she’s been cultivating her entire life.
Olivia Abercrombie is Brooklyn-based music and culture writer. When she is not reviewing albums or interviewing artists you can find her ranting on Twitter (@o_abercrombie) about Survivor or making terrible jokes on Letterboxd.
