It is way too easy to self sabotage, it is easy to kept things inside and not communicate because you are afraid of someone elses response. In fun indie pop single, Coockson brings listeners her third single, "Sabotage" which captures this feeling.
Mind reading, making assumptions, all of that leads to miscommunication and sabotage. You think you aren't enough or can't be the right person before you even give yourself the chance to try.
Kelsey Coockson flirts with pop influences reminiscent of HAIM, Maggie Rogers and Katy Perry. The track is about breaking down a built-up wall to avoid sharing your emotions. "I was used to sabotaging myself and rejecting someone before it even started,” she says guiltily. "In my current relationship, I decided not to get in the way anymore. That worked: we've been together for six years now. This song is an ode to that."
With her debut EP Shadow Box, Kelsey Coockson combines pop with electronics. The first single Nude more or less illustrates the central theme – ‘expose yourself’ - of the four-track EP. Her second single Not Scared continues this path with a song that's about not being afraid of what others might think of you. With each single that is released, she’s showing a bit more of herself. The EP Shadow Box owes its intriguing title to the fact that Kelsey on the one hand is fully showing herself and on the other hand she’s fighting with herself like a skilled shadow boxer. She enters the ring with her boyfriend Maurits Huijgen as her partner by her side. They do everything fifty-fifty with just the two of them. Whereas she’s the main songwriter, he’s primarily the producer who creates the right circumstances.
Shadow Box is a concise collection of the best they have created so far. Her 2018 debut single California did very well with an electronic and an acoustic version on Spotify. Close to 400K streams is quite a bit without a label behind you. Now she intends to take the next steps. Now that Kelsey has been picked as one of the five vocal talents within the Talent Academy run by famous Dutch actress Chantal Janzen, her chances look better than ever.
Review by Hannah Schneider