Santino Le Saint's Unholy Waters

Words Cal McIntyre
Photography Lewis Vorn
Styling Studio Notion
Grooming Rebecca Barnes @ Creatives Agency
Photography Assistant Lucy B
Production Studio Notion

January 31, 2020

Brixton rising star Santino Le Saint is causing waves from South to North London and beyond with his melancholic and haunting RnB anthems that battle with the light and dark side of love.

If you don’t know Santino Le Saint then you better get on his wavelength and quickly as this Brixton boy has his piercing eyes set on world domination.

The best way to describe Santino Le Saint’s soundscape is as if Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey and The Weeknd somehow had a child in South London. Think of dark and seductive melodies that spill and pour into Santino’s carefully crafted lyricism that is deeply personal yet cinematic. There is a thread of melancholy that ties Santino’s universe together whilst his ominous and sometimes sinister soundscape paints a nostalgic picture that proves this one to watch is ahead of his time.

Treating his songs like chapters in his life and by cementing his emotions and thoughts eternally through his discography harkens back to the great storytellers of our time. It’s no surprise as Santino Le Saint was brought up on a strict diet of Ozzy Ozbourne, Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana. Santino is an artist in the truest sense as his creativity weaves effortlessly into various outlets. Last year, Santino founded Cloud X; a multi-disciplinary arts collective comprised of artists, music industry execs, content creators and more. Santino’s recent projects with Cloud X includes collaborations with ‘King of Glamour’ Julien MacDonald and rising streetwear brand Mariagulina. I mean, is there anything this boy wonder can’t do?

Take his latest track for example, ‘Unholy’, where Santino reinforces his now-signature soundscape of dramatic and sultry RnB ballads that explore Santino’s romantic renaissance and is reminiscent of Shakespeare’s tragedies. We just had to meet up with the lover from the south of the river before his supernova explodes into a trajectory that he is destined on.

Get to know your new Internet Crush below, trust me, you won’t regret it.

Jacket & Trousers Rains
Shoes K-Swiss

T-Shirt YMC

So Santino, what’s the story of how your became a musican?

Music has been the only constant in my life since I can remember. I’ve always been interested in other things like sports and art and taken them quite seriously but no matter what I’ve been passionate about I’ve always gone back to and been obsessed with music. My dad was part of a rap group in Brixton called 57th Dynasty, so I grew around the sound of music but also the process and love of creating it.

How would you describe your sound?

Alternative RnB. Moody love songs with hip-hop energy and electric guitars.

Jacket Moose Knuckles

Jacket Gloverall
Trousers Weekday
Coat Descente Allterrain
Shoes K-Swiss

Jacket Moose Knuckles

What are some of your first memories of music?

My first memory of writing a song is coming out of the shower aged 9 and improvising a song on my dad’s Wurlitzer keyboard. There’s a video of me shot on VHS wrapped in towels playing a song called ‘Toxina’, something I completely made up probably using 2 notes.

What’s the best part of being an artist? The worst?

The best part is definitely making up every day and being able to just make music all day every day and have the freedom to create whatever I want.

The worst part is knowing that you’ll likely be struggling financially a lot when you’re starting off but it’s a sacrifice you make to be able to do what you love. It also pushes you to be more creative and innovative, and find collaborators who actively want to be involved.

Pro’s and con’s to everything in life but I wouldn’t want it any other way – it’s a process. To live my life spending the majority of my time not doing what I love doesn’t make sense to me.

Coat Moose Knuckles
Jacket Gloverall
Trousers Weekday
Shoes K-Swiss

What is something that not many people would know about you?

I keep no secrets I am an open book.

What energy do you want to give off when you perform live?

Come to my next headline show and see…

Do you have a favourite lyric you’ve written right now?

‘Bullet With My Name On It’ pre-chorus:

‘I think you just took me to my paradise / You look so good in red that I just died inside / Call you my valentine / Though my heart ain’t something I’m willing to sacrifice / Oh I, / Don’t know where I’m going let your curves decide / Hated and most wanted when our hearts collide / And I bet when you kiss it stings like cyanide’.