Sienna Spiro Releases 'Visitor' Album And 'Great Expectation' Video
(Capitol) Sienna Spiro releases her debut album, Visitor. The eagerly anticipated set from the show-stopping London-born phenomenon is a high-concept and wholly elegant collision of rich soul and symphonic pop that explores the inherent fragility of life and love.
In a testament to the power of SIENNA's timeless songcraft and stunning voice, all three of the 10-song LP's previously released singles have simultaneously charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Today she shares her new single "Great Expectation" alongside a stylishly stately music video co-directed by SIENNA and Miriam Maslin.
Out now on Capitol Records, Visitor arrives both in its standard and Deluxe forms. The latter expands the tracklist to 15 songs, making room for her SINK NOW, SWIM LATER EP fan-favorite "MAYBE.", her original The Devil Wears Prada 2 soundtrack contribution "Material Lover," an unplugged version of her massive hit "Die On This Hill," and more.
To ring in the release, SIENNA is returning to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, July 13 - her January appearance on the show was a watershed moment in her stateside breakthrough, as she performed "Die On This Hill" to a standing ovation and an utterly flabbergasted response from her host. Shortly thereafter, she will embark on the "My House" world tour. The North American and EU/UK legs of the tour, as well as most of the Australian dates, sold out instantly during pre-sale last month, spurring SIENNA to announce more dates, which also sold out - to the tune of 135,000 tickets in total. Limited tickets in Asia and Australia remain.
A moody soul-pop cut with a soaring chorus and orchestral flourishes, "Great Expectation" taps directly into Visitor's themes of personal resilience in the face of abandonment. A rainy-day piano riff eventually builds to a swaying full-band sound as SIENNA dives into the poignant hook: "If happiness is just an illusion, you were the best I ever had / If you can't be what I want, and the things you say aren't true / All I need is the great expectation of you." The music video plays into the song's era-spanning sound with a setup fit for a vintage variety show.
"'Great Expectation' is about a time when I was living in New York for a little while and talking to someone who kept saying they were gonna come see me," says SIENNA of her new single. "Every morning, I'd walk down the stairs of the apartment building and, for a second, genuinely believe he'd be outside waiting. Then I'd spend the next five minutes walking down the street imagining what I'd say, what it would feel like, what would happen if they were really there. He never came. The song became less about that person, and more about expectation itself. Whether it's beautiful or just a way of setting yourself up to be disappointed. I wrote this song about knowing deep down he would never be what I wanted and that living with the idea of him was safer than nothing at all."
Disarmingly candid and staggeringly beautiful, Visitor was executive produced by Omer Fedi (Sam Smith, SZA), with additional production from an elite crew including Blake Slatkin, Yakob, and Michael Pollack, plus orchestral composers like Larry Gold (Al Green, Silk Sonic) and Academy Award winner Peter Rotter. SIENNA and her hand-picked collaborators brought her vision to life in an array of warm, legendary spaces like Electric Lady Studios in New York, Abbey Road Studios in London, and Valentine Recording Studios in Los Angeles.
In gorgeous contrast to Visitor's underlying theme of transience and emotional exile, the result is a richly defined yet unfussy sonic world that feels fully lived-in - endlessly tempering its grandeur with an unvarnished intimacy that perfectly complements SIENNA's soul-searching songwriting and the raw impact of her powerhouse vocals.
Said SIENNA on the album: "I've always had a strong awareness of impermanence; I'm very fearful of things ending and people leaving. It's so intense that I often won't participate in new relationships or anything I know won't last, so in a way I've spent most of my life feeling like a visitor - like someone who's just passing through. Making this album really taught me how to savor things in the moment, instead of constantly worrying about the future. When people hear the record, I hope it helps them to find some comfort in the fact that everything is temporary. We don't always have to rush to let go - we can let things matter without needing them to last."Stream the album here and watch the new video below:
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