Sivu | |
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Birth name | James Page |
Born | 1986 (age 37–38) Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England |
Origin | St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano, guitar |
Years active | 2013–present |
Labels |
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Website |
sivusivu |
James Page, [1] known professionally as Sivu (pronounced see-voo), is an English singer and songwriter. He has released two studio albums, Something on High (2014) and Sweet Sweet Silent (2017). His third studio album, Wild Horse Running, was released on 9 June 2023. The album was preceded by the singles "Wild Horse Running", "Apollo", "Choral Light" and "Overtime Lover". Sivu's longtime producer and collaborator is Charlie Andrew. [2]
James Page was born in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and raised in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England. He attended St Ivo School. [3]
In a 2013 interview with the BBC, Sivu said, "I didn't like the idea of being bound by a name, I like the idea of taking it somewhere else that wasn't necessarily all about me. "Sivu" is Finnish for "Page" so that's where it came from." [4]
Sivu's first solo single was February 2013’s "Better Man Than He", described by Complex as "immediately catchy but [with] enough lyrical substance to reward multiple listens." [5] For the official music video, directed by Adam Powell, Sivu was filmed lip-synching inside an MRI scanner. [6] Sivu collaborated with Marika Hackman at the end of 2013 on the single "I Hold". [7] On 21 March 2014, Sivu released the single "Can't Stop Now". The digital single included a remix by Bombay Bicycle Club's Jack "Mr Jukes" Steadman. [8] Sivu performed at the Reading Festival in August 2014. [9] [10]
Sivu's debut studio album, Something on High, was released on 10 October 2014 to generally positive reviews from critics; [11] [12] Chris White, reviewing for MusicOMH, rated the album 3.5/5 stars, [13] and both The Guardian [14] and NME gave 3/5 stars. [15] Sivu then made a cameo appearance on Alt-J's second studio album, This Is All Yours, and supported the Bombay Bicycle Club on tour in December 2014. [16] [17] In February 2015, he released "The Nile", featuring singer Rae Morris. [18] An official music video was released in May 2015. [19] [20]
Sivu's second studio album, Sweet Sweet Silent, was released in 2017. [21] Emma Mackay, writing for The Guardian, rated the album 3/5 stars and called it an "eerie, subtle thing", opining "[t]hough Sivu’s own developments are not drastic, they’re certainly beguiling." [22] Sivu lives with Ménière's disease, [23] which heavily impacted and inspired the recording of Sweet Sweet Silent; as explained in his album commentary, [24] the track “summed up the feeling across the whole album,” and his “feelings of despair and uncertainty over his future." [25] The album included the singles "Childhood House", [26] "Lonesome", "Kin & Chrome" [27] and "Sweet Sweet Silent". In November 2017, Sivu performed at the Theatre Circo in Portugal, and at the Blue Bird Festival in Austria. [28]
On 1 February 2023, Sivu returned with the single "Wild Horse Running". "[The song] grew from this yearning to escape, whether mentally or physically I’m still unsure – but to me the image of a wild horse running is the epitome of freedom and conjures so many feelings of strength, resilience and really a triumph in physical evolution. From there the song just grew in my mind, with an almost cinematic view in my head." On 8 March 2023, he released the single "Apollo", and announced that his third studio album, titled Wild Horse Running, would be released in June 2023. [29] [30] On the same day, Sivu announced he would be performing in a one-off headline show at the Courtyard Theatre, London on 14 June 2023 in celebration of his album release; [31] [32] he announced the show's support act, Meadowlark on 13 April 2023. [33] Sivu released a new single, "Choral Light", on 19 April 2023. [34] [35] Upon the release, he shared, "I wrote "Choral Light" just before the birth of my little boy, so I was generally quite overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions [...] This song grew from this ruminating thought I had about what I traits I would pass on to my child and how some would be good and some not and how these things would potentially stay with him for the rest of his life." [36] The album's fourth preceding single, "Overtime Lover", was released on 24 May 2023. [37] [38] Clash called the song "lush [...] ambitious" and "pop at its most sincere". [39] Wild Horse Running was released on 9 June 2023. Sivu released the single "Constant Flux" on the same day. [40] The Spill Magazine rated the album 4/5 stars, opining that "Sivu bring[s] up an excellent, modern take on what [the] singer songwriter genre should sound like." [41]
Sivu has a son and, as of 2023, lives in London. [42]
In 2013, Sivu was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, a condition of the inner ear. He later wrote an article for the HuffPost: "Right now, who knows what the future holds for me? There is a possibility that I could end up being completely deaf, unable to sing or play my guitar anymore but I try not to think about it and take each day as it comes." [43]
Title | Details |
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Something on High |
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Sweet Sweet Silent [44] |
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Wild Horse Running |
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Title | Details |
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This Unfruitful Love [45] |
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Title | Year | Album |
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"Better Man Than He" | 2013 | Something on High |
"I Hold"
[46] (featuring Marika Hackman) |
Non-album single | |
"Can't Stop Now" | 2014 | Something on High |
"Miracle (Human Error)" | ||
"I Lost Myself" | Non-album singles | |
"The Nile" (featuring Rae Morris) |
2015 | |
"Childhood House" | 2017 | Sweet Sweet Silent |
"Lonesome" | ||
"Kin & Chrome" | ||
"Sweet Sweet Silent" | ||
"Four Leaf Clover Love" | 2018 | This Unfruitful Love / Sweet Sweet Silent: Deluxe Edition |
"Trickle" | ||
"Wild Horse Running" | 2023 | Wild Horse Running |
"Apollo" | ||
"Choral Light" | ||
"Overtime Lover" | ||
"Constant Flux" | ||
"Lost Ones" (with AK Patterson) |
2024 | Non-album single |
Title | Year | Album |
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"Come Together" (Laurel featuring Sivu) [47] |
2014 | Holy Water |
"Skin" ( Marika Hackman featuring Sivu) [48] |
2015 | We Slept at Last |