The duality of Sio’s album lies in its title. On Features, the vocalist and poet examines all of the ways that her unique characteristics—her gender, physical attributes, background and class—have unwittingly put her in uncomfortable situations. She also flips the script on the traditional house feature, showcasing and calling out the producer on each track. Skilfully aided by UK-based deep house DJ and producer Jonny Miller, Sio (real name Siobhan King) introduces each thematic thread of the album with an interlude that sets the tone for the two songs that follow, confronting sociopolitical scourges like gender-based violence, femicide, cultural appropriation and race relations. “It terrifies me because I don't know anybody else who's talking about all of these things on one album, and I'm headlining it so it's all on me,” she tells Apple Music. “But people have been very appreciative that I went on this journey to explore these rather dark, hard-hitting and uncomfortable themes.” Here, Sio talks us through the 12 tracks that helped her revel in her power as a woman, revealing thoughts long held and feelings dutifully expressed. “Lucid Lunacy” (feat. Jonny Miller) “This is a poem about feeling connected to a person, to the point where it drove me a bit nuts. I have had various encounters like that where I just feel like, ‘Wait a minute, what's going on? I don't understand.’ Essentially, that's where it comes from. It’s a bridge into the song that follows, but it’s also about bridging my situation.” “Reverse Flight” (feat. Dünn) [Original] “This track speaks about twin flames, reincarnation and soulmates. That feeling of being drawn to a person, and you've never met them and you're just like, ‘It feels like I know you. We know each other, but we've only just met.’ I've had a couple of ‘I feel like I know yous’ with people.” “There’s Me” (feat. Dwson) [Original] “This is about my encounter with a narcissistic being. This guy does not want to understand ‘no’. I'm like, ‘But, my guy, you've messed up the situation, you've messed up us, so stop gaslighting me. Stop feeling entitled to me. You're not anymore. You've chosen, so stick to your choice.’” “The Walls” (feat. Jonny Miller) “This details another encounter with somebody that I had, and for all the work I had done to leave this person, to let them go, erase them from my psyche and subconscious, it wasn't happening. I just get constant reminders of this person and I'm like, ‘Universe, what must happen? I'm trying to let this person go, why am I getting reminders constantly?’” “Fabrications” (feat. Dwson) “Here I'm speaking about the same person. Everything was pointing to there being something more between us, or there was, but he chickened out. We connected on a very intense level and we really liked each other. We hung out a lot, and all of the signs of a pending courtship were there, but he wasn’t ready. So I was like, ‘Oh, okay? Shut up.’ It's been messy.” “Locked” (feat. SGVO) “Working with SGVO on this was incredible. He's this 20-year-old power producer from Mpumalanga. He's done wonderful work on so many levels, and his sound, his taste and his ability to emote and create sonic experiences at his age is insane.” “I Learned Early” (feat. Jonny Miller) “So I gave the interludes as a batch to Jonny and he said to me that they were incredibly brave and he was curious to see how they'd fit into the universe of the album. Each interlude has its own little life and its own little world, and it works so stunningly as an introduction to the various themes on the album.” “Sex Pot” (feat. rkls) “I had a nine-to-five job when I wrote ‘Sex Pot’. My employer at the time knew that I wanted to pursue music, and she was very for it. But her advice on how to sell myself was to strip, expose a lot more skin, wear thigh-high stiletto boots, a miniskirt and some crop-top situation. I'm like, ‘Yo, that's the farthest thing from who I am and what I want to represent.’ That seems to be what people expect you to do when you do music as a woman. I'm going to tough it out my way and carve my own path out. Come hell or high water. If I bump my head, I bump my head, and fine. If I fail, then I fail on my own terms, by having not taken your advice and compromised myself.” “Woman” (feat. Charles Webster) “South Africa is a cesspool of gender-based violence and it breaks my brain half the time, because everybody comes from a woman. I talk about being a taxi commuter in ‘subtexts (Poem)’ off my first album [2019’s sbtxts], and I talk about it again here because there are so many horrible things I've witnessed happen to other women in taxis. As a commuter and taxi customer, I've been groped, fondled, treated really badly and told off in the most horrible ways by taxi drivers—and nobody's taken a stand to defend me. Nobody's taken a stand to defend the other women, because they're afraid of the taxi driver. So I wrote this song for the boys, because a lot of my fans are Black men. Those who are listening, who respect me and love what I do, will see what I've been through, and when it happens to other women, hopefully I've given them enough courage to speak up. For the women who hear this song, I hope they know that they have the right to use their voices and not be vulnerable to circumstances. That's my dream.” “Racist Child” (feat. Jonny Miller) “I'm the exotic place to visit but never to stay. I've had encounters with people who like me because of my colour, but only for a little [while] and then they go. Essentially, in this song, I'm celebrating my Blackness, my African-ness—my good friends and my sisters who are Black and African and proud of it, even though it's been a hard thing to celebrate for a long time. Even though we felt the Black Lives Matter movement from the safety of our homes in lockdown, it was intense to experience that the feeling is still that prevalent in the world.” “Golden” (feat. Kid Fonque & D-Malice) “There's a lot to celebrate in my bloodline, but I’ve always felt like it's something to be ashamed of, until I just looked at the rich heritage of my ancestors, and what they've been through, and [the journey of] where they come from to where they are. I was like ‘Shoot. It wasn't easy being you. You've been through intense things, and here you are, victorious in the world, and I am one of your descendants. I am honoured to be a part of it.’ ‘Golden’ was inspired by witnessing a lot of people sort of just borrow Blackness. How nice must that be for you, to be able to borrow Blackness and then you don't have to deal with the consequences of it.” “Aquamarine” (feat. Charles Webster) “This is about an interracial relationship that was a flop. It talks about how culture, race, structures and class all separated something potentially brilliant from happening. It could have been good, but again, he chickened out. It was also so easy working with Charles [Webster]! He's incredible; his years of experience outdate my years of being alive. Both of the songs that he did are pretty heavy thematically, so he was cracking his brain thinking, ‘What is this girl saying?’ When he got the concept of the entire album, he immediately congratulated me on a brave collection and body of work. It's been blessed, so blessed to work with him.”