Riaan Smit Debuts Time-turning New Single

With the ink just about dry on his deal with Peer Music, blues singer Riaan Smit debuts a bittersweet yet bolstering new single titled ‘Turn Back Time’.

Composed last year amid the depths of lockdown, the vocals are released alongside trippy, time-reversing visuals by Rainer von Hatten.

While the fantasy of rewinding and effectually sidestepping the trouble and trauma that have plagued a life is a common one, the idea gets the pandemic treatment in Smit’s video, which begins on a shore at Swakopmund.

From this scene, Smit emerges from the waves and walks backwards through a freestanding door and into the claustrophobic confines of quarantine filled with all the reality-blurring alcohol, virtual connections and surreal news beaming from assorted screens this time entails.

While the visuals hark back to lockdown, the lyrics ask: If you could turn back time, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

“The video itself we wanted to get the feeling of losing one’s mind in isolation, reflecting on the past, and being consumed by the present on the news. Shooting the whole video backwards, we aimed to tell the story starting from the end, which is breaking out of isolation and getting back into the world,” says Smit, who sings, plays guitar and whistles on the track. The song is produced by Gernot Fritze at Nautilus Studios and features Sagarias Tsam on guitar and Christoph De Chavonnes Vrugt on drums and percussion.

Smit and Fritze conceptualised the video during a long drive as they considered a way to tell Smit’s personal story alongside the story of the world over the past year. Footage of the latter flashes on a television screen after images of Smit as a child as well as scenes from his days performing with Crimson House Blues.

Naturally, the plight of artists, particularly those who make their living from live performance, is an issue close to Smit’s heart.

“We have all essentially been told that our jobs are illegal, that we must just hold on and stay at home, find other jobs which don’t exist now and figure it out by ourselves,” he says.

“Looking at the current pattern in South Africa with the looting, England with the soccer riots, Cuba with the revolts, USA with the insurrections and worldwide protests, it’s easy to see that people globally are stretched to their psychological limits.”

While the themes and the reflections in the song and accompanying musical video are complex and intersecting, Smit is, for the most part, trying to keep it simple and honest.

“I’m not putting on a facade, I’m not trying to be larger than life,” he says. “Lyrically, I’m learning to simply tell a story and not just aim for catchy lines.”

Though the stalling of the live music industry has been devastating and Smit has a regret or two, he trusts that everything will work out as it should.

“I’m hoping that this song will console people in this crazy time, knowing they’re not isolated in this feeling,” he says.

“This song is for all those who miss the world before this started, a world with music festivals, carnivals and nightclubs. A world with magic moments, hugs from strangers, not knowing where the night may take us. Without restrictions, curfews and overcrowded hospitals,” Smit says.

“This song is for all those who miss the music, and the magic of the night.”

The video for ‘Turn Back Time’ dropped on Friday, 6 August, on YouTube. Follow Riaan Smit on social media for more information.

– martha@namibina.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com