[attach id=217442 size="large"]Photo: Tumer Gencturk[/attach]

De Bee’s debut single is a slow-burning piece of lush pop by the name of Just Like You that grows on you with every listen. She is a relative newcomer on the local scene, who has her family to thank for exposing her to music.

“My grandfather played 1950s and 1960s songs, my mum had an 1980s collection, while my dad was into the 1970s and rock,” she recalls with a smile. “I’ve never studied music. I’m no professional, but I’ve been listening to so much music all of my life that it feels like a part of me.”

Apart from listening to music, De Bee says she also used to sing a lot, mostly for kicks but, after meeting Errol Sammut (of Airport Impressions) to sing at a friend’s funeral, and later guitarist Wayne Camilleri (“he heard me singing to his kid”), she was asked to add a melody to the debut single of the two musicians’ then-fledgling K.O.I. music project.

Clearly taken by her voice, Camilleri asked De Bee if she was interested in a song he was working on. “He gave me the music to experiment with… I think in all we had five studios sessions in the space of a year.”

There was no urgency to it because this was more of a casual project, but one thing mattered: “I wanted the song to be effective, to release the expression from the heart that is embedded inside it”.

De Bee explains that the inspiration behind the song stems from the imbalance mankind has brought upon itself because of money.

“Every day I count myself lucky to have clean water to drink, fully aware that there are so many people dying because they have none, and yet those who have everything just keep wanting more.”

Just Like You was produced by Wayne Camilleri, Peter Paul Galea and Peter Borg and recorded at Railway Studios.

The song can be streamed on De Bee’s You Tube channel.