Afro-Irish Newcomer Artist Xona Releases Third Single ‘In My Head’

August 23, 2021

Emerging Afro-Irish artist Xona is a musical triple threat who combines a special talent for songwriting and production with a truly beautiful voice to deliver sensual, soulful pop music. His latest single ‘In My Head’ is another melodramatic banger, the kind of captivating Pop-inflected hit that he is becoming known for.

Having moved from Lagos to Ireland at the age of 10, he spent his teenage years mixing it up between the church choir and watching live performances of the pop stars like Prince and Christina Aguilera on YouTube. Pursuing his dream of writing songs and being a singer Xona studied for degrees in jazz and popular music all the while making ripples in the Irish underground music scene.

Xona began working with different producers and songwriters in London, Berlin, and Dublin. His influences emanate from the vast worlds of jazz, electronic, house, rock and even classical music.

“This song, ‘In My Head’ was written two summers ago and recorded last summer. It really was the beginning of this new era of music I’ve found myself in. At the time I truly felt this way and I just knew I had to carve a song out of this feeling because I think a song is the closest way to make a feeling physical.”

Sipping from the well of music from the 80’s, Xona wanted to create something with drama, the kind of sing that could compete with Don Henley’s ‘Boys Of Summer’ or ‘Right Here Waiting’ by Richard Marx, “I don’t care what anyone says, those songs are incredible and the holy grail of pop music.” Once he felt he had written a strong enough melody and lyrics he reached out to Michael Heffernan (Dermot Kennedy, Gavin James, The Script), and sent him an acapella version of the song. “He instantly composed the music for the song, seemingly out of thin air. He impresses me to no end.”

‘In My Head’ is a song about falling deep for someone after just a small encounter, and racing through far-fetched fantasies of real everlasting love. “I’ve come around to overwhelming feelings like these. I think it’s a universal situation, it happens to everyone, and I believe those feelings, at the time, to be real and valid.”

‘In My Head’ is out now Friday 20th August via Berlin/Dublin based record label WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD (Tolü Makay, Enda Gallery, Strange Boy).