Athyia Alna offers up a freely creative presentation style with her music, this latest release feeling very much like an in the moment improvisation in some ways. There’s a notable level of space to the track, the set-up is minimalist and seems to showcase an almost live performance – a simple beat loops out in the backdrop, and meanwhile the artist plays a riff on the keys as a contrasting melody comes through vocally.
Without a doubt there’s a sense of identity to this sound, the keyboard style and the voice both pour through with unique qualities that would be quickly recognisable should you stumble upon further work from Athyia. There’s no strict genre that can be applied, really it’s this intimate and slightly sleepy, free-style kind of performance that drives things – the songwriting is the heart of it, the desire to express something in order to understand it better, or to be understood.
In this case, the song talks on toxic relationships – being hurt by those you thought could never hurt you. The quietness and personality of the vocal makes it a little difficult to pick out all of the lyrics the first time around, the melody isn’t quite as memorable as a classic pop release might be either, so you struggle to follow the rhythm of the notes along – something that tends to help lyrics stand a little taller. However, you come to notice that this is all part of the spontaneous set-up.
There are certain effects and flickers of detail that emerge to reinforce lyrical peaks, and it’s these rather than the standard, predictable melody type that gives the song weight. There’s a sense of artistry to the whole thing, it’s far from easy to expect, the song in full represents its underlying sentiment and that’s a fairly rare thing in music. It’s almost as if you’ve caught the artist at the height of this emotional turmoil, which makes it seem very real.
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