Kicking off the month of February, Ashlynn Malia dropped her debut LP Malia, her first since rather be alone EP back in 2021. Based out of Los Angeles, she has been hard at work finding her sound for this first album by honing in on her pop tracks. Malia has been well immersed in the industry with her background in being a professional dancer for well known artists such as Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.
Malia defines her music as a place where her listeners can turn into dedicated fans, and through her lyrical quality they can find a community with others. Most of her prior songs have resembled the true pop sound of the rhythmic beats and clear highlighting of her voice. Although her first EP was entirely made up of voice memos, recording the pure authenticity of her sound.
Transitioning to Malia, “Cool Girl” is a mature combination of the harsh truth of trying to be someone you aren’t for someone you are romantically interested in. Malia sings “Baby I’ve been crossing oceans for you / Just to show my love / That’s some shit I never do / Why isn’t it enough?” The song’s structure is reliant on her voice, giving layers to the overall sound alongside the light drums and guitar.
“Feels So Good” has a much more upbeat tone about how a relationship can feel so good when it’s healthy and fulfilling. She keeps the lyrics so intimate and blissful, singing “Every little thing you do / you know it drives me wild” and “Come a little closer to me / We can stay here” emphasizing the fact that just being near this someone can ignite a fire. The upbeat tone is represented through the pop beats mixed with curated technical instrumentals.
Another single Malia released was “Nobody Else,” using the same instrumental arrangement of pure pop beats laying a layer for Malia’s voice to be highlighted. “Nobody Else” is clearly about having an incomparable connection with someone. “Don’t wanna start again / With someone new / I want you everywhere” are just lines that exhibit her mature songwriting and thought processes for this track.
Ending the tracklist of Malia, “Dying To Miss Out” is the song that takes listeners to the internal battle of longing for someone but also has the mindset that giving in wouldn’t be a good thing in the end. Being one of her much slower pieces of the album, it continues with the deep tone from the lyrics “You’re still my daydream, that takes a little time to change it.” The last song is the battle of knowing what’s good for you, but still dreaming for the situation to be different.
Ashlynn Malia brought her vulnerable emotions and transformed them into poetic melodies for her debut album Malia. Listeners can find something relatable in each song, and it’s sure to spark applause for the anticipation of Malia’s future work.
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