Fully self-actualized and more devoted than ever to personal fulfilment, “DEACON” highlights serpent’s growth as a songwriter, embracing straightforward approaches to expression.
The album came together after serpent relocated to Los Angeles, a city that provided a sense of tranquility, an aspect he pushed to capture in his new music. While crafting the album, serpent made the deliberate decision to exclude songs about heartbreak. This was a bold act for R&B, a genre quite literally shaped by the harsh realities the blues provide. Spending time with pop songwriters and observing how they traverse language encouraged serpent to take more risks lyrically, resulting in more purity. “I originally approached this project wanting to make something that felt very sensuous. Something a lot softer, a lot more gentle than my previous work.”