Though the international audience will get to know her by her alias “Greentea Peng”, Aria Wells is destined to become a worldwide popular artist.
Peng had stopped singing at the age of 15 for personal reasons and relocated from the UK to Mexico. In her recent interviews, she refers to Mexico as the place that helped her heal and fall in love with music again. Peng returned to creating music and in late 2018 released her debut EP “Sensi”.
Her single “Ghost Town” saw the light of day in early March 2020,** and its review has been long overdue. Unfortunately, the reviews were lost in the chaos of the world’s current environment, which has caused many art enthusiasts to miss a vast amount of art gems. Her single is undoubtedly one of those art gems, an undeniable fact, and simply must be done justice.
Greentea Peng’s music is usually ascribed to neo-soul. The artist also refers to her musical style as “psychedelic R’n’B”. “Ghost Town” follows her usual sultry, deep style to lament the gentrification absorbing London. As Peng has mentioned in interviews, she becomes her highest self when she is in nature and she firmly believes that all people are a part of nature. In “Ghost Town” she conveys a social and political message of how most major cities around the world lose their face, their spirit — and become a place unfit to live in for a large community of their residents.
The black and white music video directed by Melody Maker ends with an almost minute-long open letter to the audience. In this letter, Peng thanks two ladies who have been fighting for 13 years to protect certain communities in London from demolition, extinction, and protecting the right of its residents to have a life in the place they love.
Peng proceeds with a poignant message, clarifying that “Ghost Town” is not only about London but all the places where people face the same problem. “This is about the loss of soul, character, and roots”, says Peng.
**Another artist who released poignant material early this year during the first wave of the COVID pandemic. Peng's message deserves attention as it may impact how our future evolves.