Fiji Blue

The story of Fiji Blue owes a debt to both coasts, but his genre-spanning sound is truly global. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2019 with a major in songwriting, Phoenix-raised Trevor Dering relocated to Los Angeles. There, the Southern California cool of Fiji Blue became fully realized, swirling bedroom pop, indie, house, easy listening, and R&B into a sun-kissed daydream.

Glide (his latest album) is Dering’s strongest artistic statement to date, mourning endings and practicing love and gratitude for what remains with potent lyricism and a reassuring voice that listeners won’t soon forget. There’s a palatable emotion reverberating through every note, chord, and melody of Glide, balancing both the pain and affection that inspired them. At its most heartbreaking, it’s a rumination on those who never really leave them, the faint imprints that linger long after lives go their separate ways; at its most uplifting (the emotions Dering prefers to focus on), it’s rich with gratitude for his friends and family, a future full of hope and possibility. “I love sad music, and if I could only write sad music, I would” he says with a laugh. “The thing I really love about Fiji Blue is having uplifting harmonic and production elements alongside lyrics that sit more in that melancholy world. Sometimes it’s nice to find that middle ground.”