James Page,[1] known professionally as Sivu (pronounced see-voo), is an English singer and songwriter. He has released two studio albums, Something on High (2014) and Sweet Sweet Silent (2017). His third studio album, Wild Horse Running, was released on 9 June 2023. The album was preceded by the singles "Wild Horse Running", "Apollo", "Choral Light" and "Overtime Lover". Sivu's longtime producer and collaborator is Charlie Andrew.[2]
James Page was born in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and raised in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England. He attended St Ivo School.[3]
In a 2013 interview with the BBC, Sivu said, "I didn't like the idea of being bound by a name, I like the idea of taking it somewhere else that wasn't necessarily all about me. "Sivu" is Finnish for "Page" so that's where it came from."[4]
Sivu's first solo single was February 2013’s "Better Man Than He", described by Complex as "immediately catchy but [with] enough lyrical substance to reward multiple listens."[5] For the official music video, directed by Adam Powell, Sivu was filmed lip-synching inside an MRI scanner.[6] Sivu collaborated with Marika Hackman at the end of 2013 on the single "I Hold".[7] On 21 March 2014, Sivu released the single "Can't Stop Now". The digital single included a remix by Bombay Bicycle Club's Jack "Mr Jukes" Steadman.[8] Sivu performed at the Reading Festival in August 2014.[9][10]
Sivu's debut studio album, Something on High, was released on 10 October 2014 to generally positive reviews from critics;[11][12] Chris White, reviewing for MusicOMH, rated the album 3.5/5 stars,[13] and both The Guardian[14] and NME gave 3/5 stars.[15] Sivu then made a cameo appearance on Alt-J's second studio album, This Is All Yours, and supported the Bombay Bicycle Club on tour in December 2014.[16][17] In February 2015, he released "The Nile", featuring singer Rae Morris.[18] An official music video was released in May 2015.[19][20]
Sivu's second studio album, Sweet Sweet Silent, was released in 2017.[21] Emma Mackay, writing for The Guardian, rated the album 3/5 stars and called it an "eerie, subtle thing", opining "[t]hough Sivu’s own developments are not drastic, they’re certainly beguiling."[22] Sivu lives with Ménière's disease,[23] which heavily impacted and inspired the recording of Sweet Sweet Silent; as explained in his album commentary,[24] the track “summed up the feeling across the whole album,” and his “feelings of despair and uncertainty over his future."[25] The album included the singles "Childhood House",[26] "Lonesome", "Kin & Chrome"[27] and "Sweet Sweet Silent". In November 2017, Sivu performed at the Theatre Circo in Portugal, and at the Blue Bird Festival in Austria.[28]
On 1 February 2023, Sivu returned with the single "Wild Horse Running". "[The song] grew from this yearning to escape, whether mentally or physically I’m still unsure – but to me the image of a wild horse running is the epitome of freedom and conjures so many feelings of strength, resilience and really a triumph in physical evolution. From there the song just grew in my mind, with an almost cinematic view in my head." On 8 March 2023, he released the single "Apollo", and announced that his third studio album, titled Wild Horse Running, would be released in June 2023.[29][30] On the same day, Sivu announced he would be performing in a one-off headline show at the Courtyard Theatre, London on 14 June 2023 in celebration of his album release;[31][32] he announced the show's support act, Meadowlark on 13 April 2023.[33] Sivu released a new single, "Choral Light", on 19 April 2023.[34][35] Upon the release, he shared, "I wrote "Choral Light" just before the birth of my little boy, so I was generally quite overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions [...] This song grew from this ruminating thought I had about what I traits I would pass on to my child and how some would be good and some not and how these things would potentially stay with him for the rest of his life."[36] The album's fourth preceding single, "Overtime Lover", was released on 24 May 2023.[37][38] Clash called the song "lush [...] ambitious" and "pop at its most sincere".[39] Wild Horse Running was released on 9 June 2023. Sivu released the single "Constant Flux" on the same day.[40] The Spill Magazine rated the album 4/5 stars, opining that "Sivu bring[s] up an excellent, modern take on what [the] singer songwriter genre should sound like."[41]
On 9 August 2024, Sivu released the EP Perfect Life. The EP was preceded by singles "Lost Ones" (featuring AK Patterson) and "Little Hurricane".[42] Sivu tweeted about the release of the EP, "This EP was built upon small ideas and the approach of working on something quietly and as simply as possible."[43]
Sivu has a son and, as of 2023, lives in London.[44]
In 2013, Sivu was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, a condition of the inner ear. He later wrote an article for the HuffPost: "Right now, who knows what the future holds for me? There is a possibility that I could end up being completely deaf, unable to sing or play my guitar anymore but I try not to think about it and take each day as it comes."[45]
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Something on High |
|
| Sweet Sweet Silent[46] |
|
| Wild Horse Running |
|
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| This Unfruitful Love[47] |
|
| Perfect Life |
|
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Better Man Than He" | 2013 | Something on High |
| "I Hold"[48] (featuring Marika Hackman) |
Non-album single | |
| "Can't Stop Now" | 2014 | Something on High |
| "Miracle (Human Error)" | ||
| "I Lost Myself" | Non-album singles | |
| "The Nile" (featuring Rae Morris) |
2015 | |
| "Childhood House" | 2017 | Sweet Sweet Silent |
| "Lonesome" | ||
| "Kin & Chrome" | ||
| "Sweet Sweet Silent" | ||
| "Four Leaf Clover Love" | 2018 | This Unfruitful Love / Sweet Sweet Silent: Deluxe Edition |
| "Trickle" | ||
| "Wild Horse Running" | 2023 | Wild Horse Running |
| "Apollo" | ||
| "Choral Light" | ||
| "Overtime Lover" | ||
| "Constant Flux" | ||
| "Lost Ones" (with AK Patterson) |
2024 | Perfect Life |
| "Little Hurricane" |
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Come Together" (Laurel featuring Sivu) [49] |
2014 | Holy Water |
| "Skin" (Marika Hackman featuring Sivu) [50] |
2015 | We Slept at Last |
