SA: Listen to Dean White and Cailyn Shelby’s The One (For Me) single

‘The One (For Me)’ is the brainchild of producer Dean White who created the track before reaching out to Shelby to add her vocals. White recalls his inspiration and creative process the single: “Like most of my songs, I was playing around on my bass guitar listening to old funk groups like Bee Gees and Kool & The Gang. I was inspired to write a funky bass line with pop elements from the '80s, and spent a few hours writing and analysing different riffs. “The song is very special to me because it symbolises the new direction that I'm going musically, creating music that satisfies me creatively.

The process came quite naturally. I knew that the main element of the song will be the bass line with the groove of the drums so I made sure to figure them out first to have a solid foundation for the rest of my track. When I eventually finished the song, I contacted my friend Cailyn because I knew I wanted her voice on the track. We spent many months and studio sessions perfecting every piece. Working with Cailyn was an honour and I learned a lot from her and her team.

Shelby said she felt inspired after hearing the sound: “As soon as I started playing it, I got ideas flooding through my head, starting with a falsetto melody of what is now the pre-chorus. About 2 weeks before I received the song, I had a lyric – which is now the opening line – that I had written into the notes on my phone to use but couldn’t figure out where to take it from there. This song adopted it so perfectly and it grew from there.”

Shelby is one of South Africa’s great new singing talents who recently achieved wonderful success with her debut single ‘My Four Friends’ topping the charts on some of the country’s top radio stations, including Jacaranda FM.