(ICLG) Sebastian Schub has released "Be Still," a new track from his forthcoming, debut EP Sing Like Madonna. "Be Still" is streaming now . The EP is set for release on June 6th via Island EMI / Capitol Records.
"Be Still" is a tender, intimate track putting the emphasis on Sebastian's rich and powerful baritone vocal. It's another beautiful taster to Seb's first full body of work.
Sebastian Schub recently completed his sold-out UK tour and heads to the US in June for shows in New York and Los Angeles. Later this summer, he supports Noah Kahan at BST Hyde Park in London.
Sebastian Schub has lived a thousand lives before the one presented on his debut single "Sing Like Madonna." An opera singer, actor, busker and now solo star in waiting, the German-born, London-based artist has gone from performing on the streets to blowing up on TikTok, every one of these disparate experiences moulding him into a special and distinctive new voice.
Born in Hamburg, Seb was enrolled into the city's youth opera academy as a five-year-old, learning mime and musical theatre as well as singing. When he moved to London at 17 years old, his initial dream was to make it as an actor. With work in that field eluding him, he busked on the streets to make money.
Though he attended - and then dropped out of - music school, Seb found that the real work required to make it in music came from the hard yards of busking and pub gigs rather than a formal education.
While the days would be spent playing songs by other artists, it would be at 11pm on the South Bank, "when everyone had stopped listening," that Seb would try new things out and find different tones and styles to his voice. He then scraped together some originals to get slots at Camden's Spiritual Bar, the legendary open-mic venue that hosted early gigs from the likes of Michael Kiwanuka and Jade Bird.
With his rich, deep voice, he captivated rooms previously awash with inane chatter and got busy and impatient Londoners to pause their stomps around the city to watch him perform on the pavement.
After putting in the proverbial 10,000 hours, doing the hard yards and playing the dead gigs, it was somewhat perfect that Seb's music then exploded online overnight. Immediate virality is common for songwriters in 2025, but very few experience it after toiling away like he has, meaning that Seb was ready for the whirlwind that is sure to follow.
Working with Steve Fitzmaurice (Glen Hansard, Sam Smith) and Rob Kirwan (Hozier, PJ Harvey), he then settled into a working relationship with Kiwi producer Dann Hume (Laura Mvula, Matt Corby) and decamped to work and record at his studio on Barry Island, Wales. A competent producer himself, Schub found in Hume a collaborator who "does everything that I do but better than me. The creative choices he makes are often what I like anyway. He'll plug the guitar in and make it sound exactly the way I would want it to sound."
Sebastian's songwriting finds its inspiration within the Glen Hansards of the world (the beloved Irish troubadour who brought his no-nonsense songwriting to Broadway and the West End in the award-winning musical Once). Hansard's honesty and realism captured Schub's imagination from an early age, and it's that honesty and realism that drives his own songcraft in the otherwise modern day.
It took Seb time and effort to find his lyrical voice, too. "English isn't really my language and I didn't speak it until I was 15," he says, "so I wasn't really thinking about lyrics much when I started." He studied English Literature, giving him a greater grasp of the language's nuances and power. "I read Jane Eyre four times - in English, in German, in English and then in English again, just to get it. It's work that's really paid off. It took a long time, but now I can really trust that I know how to talk and write now."
Though he might only be crossing your radar very recently, Seb's musical history is a rich and detailed one defined by hard graft. It's shown on a debut EP packed with depth, heart, and ambition - the latest building block for a future star and one that's been a long time coming.
Sebastian Schub Live:
June 3rd - Berlin, New York
June 5th - Permanent Records Roadhouse, Los Angeles
July 4th - Hyde Park, London (w/ Noah Kahan)
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