Santi Forget - Dear New Love

Santi Forget

Dear New Love
​self-released; 2022

​3.8 out of 5 

By Dino DiMuro​

Santi Forget is a young Toronto-based performer and writer who recently dropped her new EP titled Dear New Love. She had already garnered over 10,000 listens on Spotify and Apple, but has now switched to Bandcamp exclusively “to move more underground.” Her music has been featured on many Toronto radio stations and R&B playlists. Forget recognizes herself as an attractive young woman who is well served by her visual and musical exposure on YouTube and Instagram. 

Forget writes and sings in both English and Spanish, and worked with producer Corey Wong on most of these songs. Forget states: “This album was entirely intuitive. At the time I was falling in love again for the first time in a while, and most of the songs we created were written mid-session alongside live acoustics. Over time, as we put the songs together, we developed a sound that felt like a project.”

Aside from producers Corey Wong and Chris Barbini, there were additional contributions from Chris Odey, Taylor Wong and George McBride. Recording took place in Corey Wong’s basement, Patchwork Studios and Repeat music. Mixing was by Chris Barbini with final mastering by Grammy nominated engineer Joao Carvalho. This music works best in headphones.

“Starstruck” is a low-key, two-minute introduction to set the mood, which feels like scented candles, dark lighting and cigarette smoke. Shimmering low chords on the guitars and keyboards are matched with finger snaps and the telltale hiss of a DJ’s sampler. Forget’s voice is low, occasionally sleepy but effortlessly seductive, sometimes not finishing one word before moving onto the next one. Forget states that these songs were produced as she was falling in love again, something that’s not easy to miss. “I’m starstruck, never felt like this before / I’m starstruck, something I can’t explain… new love, I think I’m ready for you / I’m better at this thing called loving.”

“Slow” is a smoky love song in the sense of “Baby, we can take it slow…We can go all night… all I ever ask is that you take it nice and slow.” There’s another chill tempo with the keyboards playing a circular melody over a cloud of Forget’s vocals that float in, touch down and float away (repeat as necessary).

The lyrical conceit of “Moves” is “She moves like Shakira, curves like Selena…” The moves of the title quickly encompass the more amorous kind, which by now isn’t a big shock. A tremolo guitar plays a jazz progression with a lot of room sound. Forget’s vocals are slightly modified, then become more enticing as the track progresses. The lyrics repeat hypnotically with little change, casting quite a spell.  Another fine jazz-influenced guitar solo ends the track.

“La Playa” effortlessly switches between English and Spanish vocals. This is a song that Forget has also performed live with just guitar and bongo accompaniment, where it feels like a traditional old world tune. Here she takes the tools of the studio and creates a more modern sound, where it almost sounds like two takes of the song are slowly moving back and forth against each other. Forget’s voice is strong and compelling, with lots of liquid overdubbing and percussive edits. There’s an amazing Spanish-influenced guitar solo toward the end, a bit like Carlos Santana.

“Santi Forget featuring Oseko - Climax” starts with languid keyboards, then startles a bit with a highly compressed tunnel of Forget’s vocals. The climax being sung about here feels more like the inevitable doubts that creep into a new relationship. “How come you keep your secrets to yourself / knowing that I will find out.” The mid-song rap is by Canadian rapper Oseko, and though it’s not safe for work, it adds a different and dangerous flavor to the proceedings.

“I Know” starts with a movie dialogue sample (“Even ten minutes is a long time to be away from you”) and continues musically and lyrically in the same style we’ve come to expect: an almost lounge-jazz background with Forget skirting the fine line between singing and rapping. The production is especially lush and mysterious here, with great sounding horns (or samples of horns) with some nicely playful production choices on the vocals.

“Come Home” was planned by Forget to end the collection with “the feeling you get when you’re waiting for your partner to return.” The lyrics paint an almost 1950’s domestic scene, with Forget’s lover “working nine to five” and she “can’t wait for him to get home.” The vocals have an undeniably sweet and longing quality, though by this point it feels like this relationship is maybe just five days old!

​Though this type of music is not my normal jam, I was seduced by Forget’s accomplished vocals and the spare but effective backing tracks. A new artist to watch for in the future!

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