Mayah Camara - Wanting You Now

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Mayah Camara’s “Wanting You Now” is a soul-infused journey through ardent desire, emotional depth and feelings of compassion and love. Mayah Camara uses her beautiful voice to superb effect, delivering performances that are deeply felt and engaging. The production adds richness and emotional strength to each song, outlining them with skillful synth choices and first-rate sound design. The lyrics are full of truth and undisguised sensation, lending the music a sense of connection to the complexities of love and life.

Mayah Camara’s grippingly expressive, smoky voice is the heart and soul of “Wanting You Now.” Her performances deliver jolts of pure emotion, translating her lyrics into sensation without any filter. The result is music that strikes with lightning-bright intensity, driving home the emotive, atmospheric words in each song. The vocals galvanize me as they unfold.

Lyrically, Mayah Camara writes across the varied landscapes of love, passion and human pain. Her words are full of vivid imagery that captures emotional nuance and ferocity. Each track explores a different facet of the journey lovers and people take through life, allowing me to experience or recall my own emotions with unmistakable clarity.

SelloRekt/LA Dreams also leaves an indelible mark on “Wanting You Now.” His musical backdrops are luscious, melodically engaging and full of sonic imagery that supports the vocals and lyrics. The way he matches the sensations of Mayah Camara’s performances allows each song to stand out and shine.

My Favourite Songs Analyzed

“Love Take Over” opens with a groovy rhythm and brightly pulsating synth. A sweeping sound adds a shadowy touch while strings shine and the guitar growls. The rhythm is dynamic as the luminous strings wriggle with passionate light and Mayah Camara’s chocolate-smooth voice captures the burning fire within the words, full of yearning excitement.

The underlying heartbeat is strong while Mayah Camara’s voice flies with inspiring dynamism, filling my heart with the ferocious love inside the lyrics. As the jamming underlayer presses forward, the drum beat snaps and the vocals rise with heated intensity. The fiery strength within the performance is echoed by the funky pulse underneath. As Mayah Camara’s voice echoes with undeniable desire, she captures the dangerous attraction waiting for her. The explosive rhythm drives forward while the heated vocals come to an end.

“You’ve really gotten under my skin, I got this feeling within,” our storyteller says, knowing there’s so much left to discover with the other person. She adds, “For me there is nobody else, I’m coming off of the shelf,” because the song’s subject is the only one for her. “You make me wanna give you my all,” she admits, because the other person knocked her off her feet and made her fall. She points out, “You make me wanna give you my heart when Cupid hit me with that fire loving dart.”

The narrator realizes that “when love takes over, there ain’t no point in trying to fight.” She knows that “when love takes over, it could be so wrong but just feels so right.” She says the song’s subject makes her temperature rise when she looks into their eyes. “Something’s kinda taking me over, I want you so bad I could cry,” she adds, feeling compromised because the other person has come a little bit closer.

“This crazy reaction, this fatal attraction is gonna make me throw all caution to the wind,” she confesses, because she’s losing herself—but she isn’t looking for any help. Instead, she says, “I’m gonna go and give my heart to him.”

The sensual voiceover comes in as “Wanting You Now” begins with heavily erupting drums. Lambent synth rises with sparkling luminosity as Mayah Camara's smoky, soulful voice carries the desire-filled melody. SelloRekt/LA Dreams’ synth bubbles like champagne as Mayah Camara's sexy voice expresses the deep craving within the lyrics.

The way in which she injects intense attraction and fierce desire engages me in the music. The low end has an insistent throb which speaks to the song’s urgent undercurrent. The crystalline synth climbs to the sky and Mayah Camara pours heat into the words.

The low end continues to muscle forward as the gritty expression of the vocalist permeates the music. The guitar slices with free-wheeling ardency as Mayah Camara belts out the melody as nobody else can. The huge drumbeat is insistent as the impassioned chorus explodes and flies.

Heat and craving mingle in Mayah Camara's distinctive voice while the low end continues to pump. The track drives toward an end with galactic light suffusing the track from the synth while the drum heartbeat takes the song to an end.

Our narrator says that nothing can compare to the time when they’re alone together with low lights and soft music. She says, “I can’t focus right now, I need you to hurry home, okay?” because she needs the song’s subject now. She left him a message, asking him not to take too long when he's coming home, because she needs him.

She’s been waiting far too long and the storyteller says, “I don’t feel so strong ‘cause I need you now.” She wants to feel the song subject’s tender touch and experience his love, because she’s all alone. She adds, “Baby, I’m ready for you to do what you do.” She points out that their chemistry is undeniable and when he touches her, “I ignite with desire.”

Our narrator says, “Every woman needs the love of her man,” and she wants to be tied up, tied down and thrown around because it’s been “nothing but passion since the day we began.” Now she says there are “hot beads of sweat dripping down my neck,” and as their eyes meet, the heat rises and she knows what’s about to happen.

“Dream Away” starts as a swelling sound grows with laser-like notes. The strings create dramatic grace as the guitar intertwines and Mayah Camara's voice takes on a feathery quality, still full of soul and heart, while the piano trickles with breathy tenderness. Mayah Camara's emotively powerful vocals reach out, filling me with the pain of the words as the drums add a steady rhythm.

The piano glistens with lustrous emotionality and the vocals fill with mournful want as the underlayer adds shape. Mayah Camara uses her broad-ranging voice to deliver all of the broken loss within the lyrics and the strings cry with as much pain as the singer. The piano entangles with fragility while the vocals soar with impressive strength and the underpinnings drive on. The piano and strings give the music orchestral heart while Mayah Camara shows off her abilities, capturing the song’s bereft feeling. One more crescendo bursts like a sunrise before the song ends on delicately dancing piano.

As the storyteller awakens, sometimes she thinks she can see the song subject’s face. She says, “When the wind whispers, I hear your name,” and the other person seems to take up every space. She misses them like “a baby needs a lullaby, like the stars never see the sun in the sky,” and the way a question needs a reply. She says, “I’m just so lost without you, nothing more I can do but dream away.”

When our narrator hears the other person's song on the radio, “every word she’s singing is like a knife into my soul.” People say pain lessens with time and she’ll make it, but she doesn’t know how. She can’t keep dreaming just to be with the song’s subject because “I need to live a life with meaning like I used to.” She realizes the other person wouldn’t want her drowning in this ache, but “I’m just so lonely, I miss you baby, I just wanna break down and cry.”

In conclusion, she needs the song’s subject in her life because “without you the loneliness is magnified, I can’t find a single thing to pacify the way that I feel.”

“On the Streets” opens as massively throbbing bass moves with rough-edged notes. The galloping low-end pulse joins Mayah Camara’s bittersweet performance, capturing all of the darkness and complexity of the streets. The gigantic rhythm surges with synthwave force as her vocals ring out with sincerity and honesty. Chimes sparkle with haunted light as Mayah Camara engages me with trembling clarity.

The colossal underlayer sharpens as the bells shimmer and Mayah Camara cries out with burning emotion. As the two singers intertwine, the vocals soar with undeniable feeling. The undulating, lacerating bass supports the lyrics as they push their message home. Mayah Camara carries the arcing, shadowy melody with conviction as pounding drums meet coruscating chimes before the song closes.

The narrator warns, “You gotta keep yourself alert ‘cause if you don’t you may get hurt out here.” There are many lessons to learn because “you gotta know the way it works out here.” She adds, “They say the freaks come out at night, so many things, so many sights,” and there is so much to absorb.

She reminds us that “if the streets come knocking, keep on walking, it’s survival out here.” There are too many people talking and “things are shocking, everyone’s a rival out here on the streets.” The roads are stained by oceans of tears “from days gone by,” and it’s tragic that “this is where so many grow.”

On the streets, it’s “a world within a world” full of “so many boys, so many girls, so many shots in the dark.” She says you must look and listen because it’s another world out there, you have to listen to your heartbeat and open your eyes, because “it’s not a place you wanna be.”

Flourishing drums rebound as trickling sounds mix with bright horns to start “Let’s Escape.” Mayah Camara’s voice is full of pent-up need as a throbbing underlayer propels the music. Her clear voice carries the melody with barely contained desire as the rhythm pulses. Loving sensations fill me as Mayah Camara transports me.

Glistening notes flash as the darkly pulsating foundation moves forward and the vocals arc above with unambiguous emotion. Sharp drums propel the flying chorus through the music with affection and longing.

Metallic tones sparkle like stray sunbeams while the underpinnings continue to undulate. As Mayah Camara embodies desiring emotion, explosive energy permeates the track. Rebounding synths dance lightly before the song ends.

“We’re never alone, there’s always somebody home,” but the narrator needs the other person to know she craves time with them. A “burning desire, down to the wire” pushes them to escape tonight. She searches for a place where no one knows them, insisting, “I just wanna take action.” She asks, “Is there somewhere we can be?” longing for a private, serene escape where desire can unfold without interruption.

“Stand My Ground” comes to life as the kick drum pounds and quickly intertwining synth illuminates the music. Mayah Camara’s voice is light but expressive, skipping through the music as the melody spills over with encouragement and a sense of freedom. The synth frolics and the drums give increased dynamic life to the music while the vocals are belted out with fierce strength.

Interesting percussive elements move with the aquamarine tones of the synth as Mayah Camara captures the mixture of reminiscence and forward-looking emotion in the words. I enjoy the flying vocals as they reach out with liberated joy, seeking a new path. The undulating underpinnings throb as the defiant pride within the vocals shines through. The background notes are effervescent and add a sense of release while Mayah Camara uses her superb vocal ability to propel the song with soaring happiness. The music creates a supportive backdrop for the mixture of independence and hopeful future vision.

As a new day dawns, our storyteller says, “I got some things on my mind, I got some things to say,” because she’s kept them to herself for too long and “I let you get your way, I wasn’t true to myself, I was hiding away.” She’s putting aside what they did before because it isn’t working “and we keep on hurting and we need more.”

“I don’t know the girl in the mirror, she’s not the one I used to be,” but she looks the narrator in the eye as she tries to get back to who she was. “I loved who I was before and that’s who I’m fighting for, I won’t let you drag me down, I’m gonna stand my ground.” She was bound too tightly and “trapped within the ropes” so she couldn’t see the light because she’d lost all hope.

Our storyteller was trapped in the dark because “I lost my spark,” but adds that it was her mistake and a choice she made to give so much to the song’s subject. She goes on to say, “But there’s a change to make, there’s a chain to break,” and she truly has work to do. Now she isn’t “papering over the cracks” or under attack, so “I’m gonna live my life, you’re not pushing me to the back.” It’s her time now.

“I don’t always wanna have to be strong as a woman, sometimes I wanna scream and shout and let it all out,” she explains in a way that comes naturally to her. Now she’s taking hold of the reins and she’s going to “break all of the chains that held me down.” She won’t stand in the rain or “live in the pain,” because “it’s over now, I’m gonna stand my ground.”

Gargantuan bass moves beneath trickling notes that rapidly cascade to kick off “Deja Vu.” Chimes scintillate as Mayah Camara’s ghostly vocals slide past with knowing darkness. The chimes continue to shine with galactic light, but Mayah Camara captures all of the anger and revelation within the lyrics. The low end oscillates with towering strength as the vocals cry out with bitter feeling, confused and full of pain. The surrounding music has a shadowy slide that fits the sensations within the words,and tremulous notes flicker with half-concealed brightness.

The way in which Mayah Camara communicates the mood of the song takes hold of me and carries me along. The melody’s minor-key shadings capture anger at the behavior of the song’s subject. The continually surging, supporting pulse moves with Mayah Camara’s vocal performance, which rises in defiance before the music closes.

“I recognize a feeling but I don’t think that I like it” reveals the narrator’s discomfort, even as she resists describing it. “I’ve seen this place, this scene somewhere in my dreams” hints at fear, and she adds that she wasn’t prepared to face “what’s in front of me.” She doesn’t want to talk about it or get caught up.

Our storyteller says, “It’s déjà vu, have we been here before?” and she doesn’t know what to do. She’s unsure. “I know your secret but I don’t wanna keep it to myself” shows she knows the other person was sneaking around. She adds, “See, you may play your wife, you may cheat and lie” and take risks but she reminds the song’s subject, “You need to recognize there ain’t no compromise, you know I saw that kiss.”

Conclusion

“Wanting You Now” carries impactful emotional depth. Its combination of exquisite vocals, thoughtful lyrics and skillful production makes for an album that grips me and will not let go.

Yota - The Touch

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Yota’s “The Touch” captures all of the fierce intensity and heartbreaking pain that comes with loving. The way in which LifeLike’s production wraps around Yota’s beautifully nuanced and powerful vocal performances deepens the emotive strength of the lyrics she has crafted. The music ranges in mood from affectionate and playful to darkly broken and aching, each shift in atmosphere supported by the producer’s ability to weave a framework that strengthens the vocalist’s performance and amplifies the emotions permeating the songs.

Anchoring “The Touch” are Yota’s vocal abilities and expressive performances. She can slice with painful honesty, reach out with sensual passion and fill her voice with need and yearning that pierces me. Each song showcases her ability to translate lyrics into direct, dynamic expression. Yota engages me with her interpretation of the words she’s written, taking me along on the album’s journey. The way she captures the heart of the music makes for compelling listening.

Along with her vocal performances, Yota’s lyrical writing is essential to “The Touch..” The lyrics are touching, grasping me with their immediate and unvarnished expression. Each song outlines a different part of a complex and evolving relationship, drawing me toward the feelings being explored. I can relate my own life to the words she has written.

As for the production, each producer brings all of their skills to “The Touch.” The way they combine different synth tones, timbres and textures creates a supportive framework for the vocals. They fill the music with melodies that run from gentleness and affection to shadowed pain. The rhythms drive the music with energy and the sound design aligns with the album’s emotional tenor.

My Favourite Songs Analyzed

“At Night” opens as an actively bursting beat and a laser-bright synth dance with uplifting dynamism. A quickly swirling note pattern spangles the music as the pumping rhythm launches with dance floor-filling urgency. The tambourine adds another bright element while intertwining notes shift with a phosphor-glow.

The beat jumps as Yota’s dusky vocals shift with fervent feeling, carrying the melody. In the distance, shivering notes give off faraway light while the thudding beat is joined by tightly flickering tones. Yota enraptures me with her soulful performance, drawing me into the song’s heart.

Once again, intense radiance spills through the music as the low end skips easily. The drum beat is punchy while Yota fills her words with deep wanting. The synth dances with energetic brilliance while the rhythm drives on. The vocals are full of ache as the music moves on, smoothly entangled notes tumbling. The grounding pulse is steady and compelling before the song draws to an end.

“Why don’t you try with me?” is the narrator’s question for the song’s subject. She wants to know why the other person doesn’t put in any effort and she adds that they can’t “keep it low and hide.” She wonders if giving the song’s subject another reason might make them come her way. The other person gives her a meaningful glance as she says, “It’s hot and I feel alone.”

Our storyteller’s defenses are failing as she exclaims, “When it’s late at night, they start to howl at you.” She wants the song’s subject to howl at her. Once again, she asks, “If I give you just another reason, would you come my way?” Another powerful glance is exchanged and the storyteller adds, “Howl at me now.” As the song concludes, the narrator says, “I can hear them howling for you at night. I can hear them calling for two, that’s right.”

Softly staticky sounds move with a tremulous echo and a gently ticking beat begins to add form as “The Touch” comes into being. The chords drift with a wistful sensation before the strong drums and fat bass intertwine in a steady groove. Yota’s whisper-soft voice glides with ardent feeling as the rhythm continues to throb. The percussion creates a metallic, slipping sound as rich synth drifts with Yota’s voice, weaving a melody full of affectionate desire.

The underlying pulsation is velvety as Yota enchants me with her performance. Her vocals are breathy but strong while burnished tones glow like fire and vibrating notes shiver above the luxuriant bass. Ringing notes gutter like candle flames as the bass underpinning continues to flow below the levitating vocals. LifeLike's production drips layered warmth through the song. The groove is undeniable as Yota’s buoyant voice moves like tiny sparks rising into the night sky.

Ecstasy and love permeate the melody and the vocals capture the lyrics with effective expression. A broadly slipping synth flares like flames reflected in a mirror. Trembling notes in the distance contrast with the denser, full-sounding synth as it expands. Beneath it all, the foundational pulsation shimmies before the track drifts away into silence.

As our storyteller is drawn towards the song’s subject, she says it’s “systematic, step by step closer to the ecstatic.” The other person uplifts her mind and they meet “somewhere high above the sky.” She wants the other person to “level up and rise up to my mood” because it’s so divine.

The narrator and the song’s subject are “falling in love again with the touch” as she speaks of a slow delay while the other person vanishes “in your vision of me.” She says, “in my vision I still drown in you, slowly dive.”

“I’ll get lost and face the fire with your embrace,” she admits, because it’s “a burning flame, untamable like you.” Our storyteller realizes there’s no escape from the song’s subject because “when we start to feel fire, the fire burns in you.”

“Under the Rain” begins with washing raindrops and reverent notes that glide past with silky ease. Thunder rumbles as the rain continues to splash and the slowly floating chimes are joined by a sensually swirling beat. Yota's voice is breath-warmed and tender, full of aching expression and ardent feeling.

The melody is gentle and loving, reaching out to touch with a lover's fingers. A sense of relaxation and passion mingles in my mind as this song unfolds, guided by the vocalist’s enfolding performance that draws me into the emotional world of the lyrics. The rhythm is calming and carries me away while Yota's velvet voice takes hold of the ache and blazing intensity that characterizes this song.

Chimes sparkle like candlelight while the vocal performance slips all around me like silky sheets and a wandering saxophone drifts in the distance. Softly pleasurable out-breaths tremble as the rain falls and silence descends.

There's no good explanation for the things the narrator says are changing. She adds that she tried to “stop this locomotion,” but when the song's subject is around, she can’t fake it. She adds, “If you think that it's right, then why not come back for some more? It feels like before, then I'm not going to fight, am I?” She’ll catch the other person “if it feels like you’re falling” and stand by them because she’s coming to realize that “we can’t let this die.”

Our storyteller found the song's subject under the rain, “where our worlds collide.” That’s the place where she sees that “no one feels like you,” adding that she won’t see them cry. She continues, “Believe when I say that I thought there was no one that could make me feel this way.” She concludes, “It’s so different, come back to me baby, I wanna feel like before.”

An ephemeral sonic sweep is joined by a pounding bass to commence “Before Our Souls Divide.” Quickly vibrating sounds rattle as the punching foundation is joined by Yota’s floating, breathily caressing voice. The steadily driving beat creates a rhythmic flow and the melody is full of gossamer sensations. The way in which Yota's voice transmits the hopeful, still-hurting lyrics is deeply touching for me.

The synth spills brilliance while Yota adds power to her delicate vocals, deepening their expressive nature. The underpinnings are propulsive while the vocals trail like mist and the drifting notes tumble one over the other. An enchanted sensation permeates the vocal performance, cutting me to the core.

Continually intertwining notes shimmer while darker sounds drift. The toms add another percussive layer as the beat becomes unstoppable. The melody rises with intense fullness and heartbreaking sensation while the root pulse pushes on. The levitating vocals exhale before the track closes on enfolding tones.

“Before our souls divide, you burned it all down,” the storyteller says and each time she feels like she’s losing the song’s subject. She asks, “Did we lose it all, did we rise and fall?” Every time, she says the other person was the violent sun that “burned it all down,” leaving her wondering if they truly did destroy everything between them.

“Now it seems you couldn’t change, so we’ll break apart,” because the narrator realizes that “there’s just no way to tame a wild heart that never heals when we’re facing the night.” She asks the other person to turn out the light because “it’s in the dark the truth lies.” She tells them to cover their eyes and sacrifice because “we’ll pray before our souls divide.”

With the things the song’s subject does, our storyteller asks why they’re still holding on to her. She adds, “The things you feel when you’re all alone, open up your darkness and it’s pushing you away.” It seems to her that the other person is “holding fear deep inside your heart,” so they’re “pulling each other into the dark before we leave when we’re facing the night.”

Reverberating, elastic synth moves as Yota’'s voice wanders in haunting motion to start “One More Reason.” The tranquil synth flows with a sweeping drumbeat and Yota’s tentatively hovering vocal performance. The foundation is massive as the velvet-smooth vocals drift and tones with indigo luminosity spread out while the drums disappear.

Hushed emotion fills the vocals as the rhythm continues to skip smoothly, Yota capturing me with her soulful ache. The beat adds shape as the drifting vocals slip past in layers of satin tenderness. The background synth fills the music with sparkle as the vocals touch my ears with a broken sense of need.

Once again, the background takes over with soothing notes slowly trembling as the bass rebounds. Peaceful thought touches me before the underlayer pushes forward and Yota extends her emotionally complex vocals. Scintillating tones tumble one over the other as the continually throbbing rhythm gives the music shape. The song ends as the vocals glide with elegance.

Everything that the narrator and the song's subject had is gone, so "I can't give you more, baby." As another night passes with the other person away, nothing's the same as it was. It’s just "another night, another day where time stands still and you're gone." She still feels the same as before, but "we both know I can't give you more."

As our storyteller broke through and "violent forces cut me loose, breaking down the walls I had," she was brought back to life, but the song’s subject "knew to pull the strings that turned me mad," so she'll give them one more reason not to love her. She reiterates that she can't give the other person any more.

The light they once saw is fading and "it will all start to drift apart, these ties would not hold the weight a hundredth time," as the ground beneath the other person's throne breaks and there's "a silence that speaks louder than a lie." She concludes, "you made it all fall apart and I will watch it slow, we are losing this game."

“Hide” comes alive as a charging foundation launches with Yota’s voice climbing to the heavens, wordlessly conveying blazing emotion. Shimmering tones move above the heavily punching bass and clean drums while Yota's voice flies with fervent intensity. In contrast to the unstoppable underpinnings, her vocals rise with reverence and breathy gentleness to capture my heart.

The intense propulsion is cut by diamond chimes that sparkle into the twilight while the vocals touch like drops of starlight. The main melody captures loss with piercing strength, carried on Yota's glistening vocals. The grounding pulse adds muscle as a medium-high synth trickles, broadcasting its galactic brightness.

The lead synth exudes summer sunlight while the undulating low end presses forward. A synth solo sings with unbridled energy, spilling out hurt as it twists and leaps. The thunderous rhythm joins the soaring vocals and glittering notes, fragile and brilliant, as the full-throated vocals punch home the song’s message. The music closes with a warm wash of tones tumbling one over the other.

A sound lingers and the storyteller’s still holding on, but she knows “those days are gone.” She might not be the one the song’s subject wants her to be, but “I’ll be the one that stays, I’m the echo in your brain, the melody won’t die.” She says it’s important to realize that “faced eye to eye, it’s never gonna be what he wants to see” or what he wants to conceal from her.

Pattering drums and a churning, violin-like sound expand into action to kick off “Last Goodbye.” The electric bass deepens as vibrating tones create a tense sensation, tinged by tambourine shimmer. The lead singer’s voice is like a leaf in the wind as it aches and trembles, capturing the pain in the lyrics. Echoing vocals move with the mournful brass that calls above the strumming guitar, touching me with the brokenness.

Shining tones shiver and the percussion drops away as the vocalist grasps the damaged feelings in the music. As the track swells, the pain is slashed by a guitar that cuts sharply while the bass rumbles. The whole track exudes emptiness as the guitar climbs with bittersweet emotion, adding a blues-inflected voice above the churning low end before the piece closes.

As “the skies tonight are made of the colours that we like,” they illuminate the pain the narrator and the subject hide. The other person said she failed, so “we’re gonna make this the last goodbye,” and it will take everything she has to let go. A “distant cry says please let’s try,” but she knows it’s time. She misses their face, “I’ve never seen it shine so bright,” yet this must be the last goodbye. She will “slowly erase the sky, pretend that it doesn’t feel,” trying to forget the raw pain.

“Monster” starts off as resonant strings and calm piano mingle with thoughtful effect. The foundation softly touches as Yota’s trembling, hurt vocals carry the whispering melody with tear-invoking expression. The background sails smoothly, the production slipping around the words with subtle tranquility, contrasting with the darkness and shattered feelings within the lyrics.

The piano ripples with the strings, and I feel myself tearing up at the brokenness in Yota's voice. The guiding beat is fragile while the melody is full of a gentle filigree of melancholy. The vocals have depth and strength despite their light touch, feathery but compelling. As the piano chords grow stronger, the strings flash with warming light and tiny tones add an additional sparkle. Yota has an undeniably beautiful voice and carries the melody with wistful sensations before the music ends.

Her heart must be mistaken about “how hard it is to let you go” as the storyteller sails away in a “forever sea.” If it hurts, the song's subject will be “painfully ignored,” and when it begins to bleed, “I know you secretly adore the signs.” She asks if the monster is alive and “does it creep around and make you cry?” She adds that if it wants to live, “baby, kill it one more time.”

As the narrator stares deep into the eyes of the monster, “I saw it cry (like a distant sigh).” She says it's funny how it felt as if it was still alive, but “all the signs we used to chase are now invisible, only fractions of a monster could appear sometimes.” She’s come to realize that “If Heaven is calling” then the angels are falling and “we’ll never make them fly, so it’s over.” To conclude, she says she can’t take it and she’s gone, because the only thing left to see is “a monster in our minds.”

A majestic piano explodes with brilliant light to begin “This Time.” The piano chords are triumphant as the foundational beat dances with the sharp-edged, radiant synth. Percussion snaps cleanly as the background spills out encouraging luminosity. The bass is lush as the drums clatter in an even rhythm and Yota’s floating voice begins to gain strength.

The main melody exudes pure brightness into the music while the warming vocals tug at my heartstrings. The piano trembles with hopeful sensations. Yota carries a sense of movement within her voice as it slowly fades away along with the drums.

The narrator simply asks if they can work it out together and adds, “Let’s change this time.”

Conclusion

“The Touch” fills me with deep feeling and evokes a personal connection. This is music that delves into the nuances and challenges of loving another person, each song drawing me closer and leaving me satisfied by the experience.

My Favourite Artist Discoveries Of 2025

by Karl Magi

Each of these artists represents a new musical discovery for me this year (with the exception of Lovespirals & Donna Lewis who are rediscoveries). I've consistently enjoyed learning more about their music as I review it and each of them brings a fresh perspective or fascinating approach to music making which intrigues me. As with all the music I review, making choices is difficult because there's just so much good music out there on the scene, so these artists represent a selection of creators this year that really galvanized me or made me sit up and take notice.

Heartbreak City

Heartbreak City writes songs which create a sunlit charge, as they capture longing and the restless dynamism of youth. Jon Lilygreen anchors the music as his textured, tender voice rises skyward. Aled Rhys Evans’ synths pour through the songs like a crystal tide, spangled with sunlight, shaping each nuanced shading. Toby Davy’s production brings everything together in a cinematic whole to push the story forward.

The interplay between synth and guitar carries emotional weight as pellucid synth lines mingle with melodic guitar. The songs exhale tranquility before growing into driving rhythms that rocket toward the horizon. Sunrises, tropical nights, and summer winds form a backdrop, evoking memories that refuse to fade. Heartbreak, youth and desire along with an undercurrent of tender nostalgia runs through their music.

DRUMxWAVE

DRUMxWAVE (Juan Calixto) builds songs based on heartbreak, change and the struggle to reclaim one’s inner world. He brings together fierce drums, trembling synths and lyrics that explore bereft pain. His vocals are fervent as they anchor the songs, while vocal duets and interwoven harmonies deepen the music’s emotional gravity.

DRUMxWAVE’s drum performances propel each track with a powerful pulse. Starlight flickers from shimmering synths while volcanic guitar and blistering sax solos evoke moods ranging from triumph to fury and yearning. In contrast, more delicate elements flutter at the edges, billowing like clouds, offering a contrast to the rhythmic weight.

Dramatic rises and cataclysmic crescendoes pull me into the heart of each song, while drifting passages create a sense of fragility. Cosmic and elemental images permeate the music. Even as the songs fall quiet, DRUMxWAVE leaves a touching echo behind.

Neon Shards

Neon Shards’ music carries me through neon-lit cities and down cosmic highways as each track unfolds. The music is full of atmospheric imagery that weaves together impressions of sun-warmed poolsides and palm-lined boulevards to create chrome reflections. The melodies are bright, centred on escapism but touched by a melancholy glow that draws pictures of vanished summers and youthful dreams.

Neon Shards’s guitar moves through tenderness to fierce intensity. The solos expand each track’s horizon, creating images of roaring engines, sunrises and cosmic ascents. The synths are layered with glassy tones, glistening bells, and radiant timbres to create rich depth.

The rhythms are a driving force, as throbbing basslines and snapping drums shape the music’s kinetic energy. Through it all, the music carries me on far flung journeys as Neon Shards creates a tapestry of feeling and emotive expression.

Autumn White

Autumn White’s songs paint intimate portraits of yearning and the razorblades hidden in love. His voice, breathy and trembling, reflects vulnerability and contemplative depth. His melodies exude wistful melancholy, aching with emotion as they pierce me.

His production weaves an intricate web of contrasts. Misty synths hang in the air, flickering at the edges, while sharp-edged tones and a pulsing low end cut through with urgency. Drums stutter beneath the vocals as they capture turbulent emotion. The songs explore close personal connections, often with elusive or intoxicating characters, as they roam through fractured landscapes of feeling.

Dream imagery drifts constantly through the music, blurring the lines between memories and hallucinations. Autumn White’s world is one where truth glimmers through hazy light and disappears into the ether.

Dress To Impress

Dress To Impress writes music that wanders through broken landscapes of longing, hope, connection and loss. His vocals shift from raw vulnerability to haunting distortion, capturing a full spectrum of feeling that pulls me deeper into each story. Around his expressive voice, he builds luminescent sonic layers of crystalline bells, gleaming xylophone and atmospheres that wrap the melodies with lush light.

Gliding drums, pounding beats and rumbling bass lines create a sense of constant forward motion even when the emotions tremble. The songs often balance delicacy and power as twinkling tones collide with explosive rhythmic bursts, creating cinematic drama.

Images of rain, sunrise and fading light and lost motion gives each track a visual presence, as the music unfolds like a movie. Neon drenched, ‘80s inspired synths add a drifting retro haze. Dress To Impress creates a sound that explores the heart’s storms with colour, depth and clarity.

Donna Lewis & David Lowe

Donna Lewis and David Lowe shape gently glowing psychological journeys, anchored by Donna Lewis’ flexible vocals. Her voice carries the music’s emotional essence and impact. David Lowe’s production surrounds her performances in a carefully woven textural tapestry as synths create tonal layers that softly cradle the melodies.

The music creates a graceful contrast that evokes the rising and falling of emotive tides. The way in which the tracks guide the listener as they search, question and yearn for connection. The songs are filled with imagery of roads, mountains, valleys, distant lights and vast skies.

As the songs unfold, the narrators take internal journeys as they explore love, loss and a desire for connection in a disorienting world. Warmth and tenderness are at the heart of each track, even in moments of doubt or sorrow. The results are introspective and gently human as they unfold.

Lovespirals

Lovespirals music is full of soft shadows and slow-burning intimacy. Anji Bee’s breath-warmed vocals are aching and wistful as they drift with fragile sensuality that’s deeply personal and affecting.

Ryan Lum’s guitar further shapes the expressive tone, capturing the drifting feeling that runs through so many of their tracks. Subtle percussion, gentle piano and distant synths fill in the spaces with atmospheric quiet and jazzy riffs.

Fear of loss, distance and unresolved wounds fill the music with heart. The lyrics probe the contours of regret, invisibility and a fear that love is slipping away, using imagery of drowning, drifting, floating, or cosmic motion to deepen the emotional weight. Slow, dreamy tempos mirror the lyrical depth, creating songs that are soft, sorrowful and full of vulnerable honesty.

Arcade Beach

Arcade Beach crafts music that transports me on beams of light, creating a sunrise blush over an open horizon. The band’s sound is built on layered synths, expressive guitar and massive ’80s-infused drums that limn uplifting landscapes. Each song has a sense of seeking pathways toward renewal or escape. Even when there’s hope, a bittersweet undercurrent flows, as loss and healing intertwine.

Nick Sauter’s vocals deliver all of their feelings with sincere tenderness. Airy melodies rise into gripping choruses, as vulnerability fills his voice. The lyrics ache for meaning and belonging, seeking a way out of distance, while baring his soul.

Arcade Beach’s songs take journeys through neon twilight, balancing aching reflection with rising hope. As the songs evolve, light breaks through the haze and the music rises with feelings of renewal.

NeonShe

NeonShe writes songs centred around larger-than-life protagonists who blaze with confidence and have an unstoppable drive. Her world is vibrant with cotton-candy hues, glossy textures and pixel sparkle, amplifying the persona at the heart of her music. Each song leaps forward with an engaging, lively energy.

Her vocals capture power and vulnerability with a silken edge, as they soar through choruses and drift across digital dreamscapes. NeonShe blends organic and digital elements , supporting songs which move through aspiration, transformation and connection. Her explorations pause for moments of self-reflection before returning to more positive feelings.

The songs revolve around self-worth, identity and desire. Longing and intent mingle before resolving in determination and a need to move forward. NeonShe’s songs tell the stories of characters who shine so brightly that they reshape the world around them.

Beachdolls

Jessica Ess creates music in which myth and moonlight intertwine. Each song’s supernatural imagery is used to reveal deeper truths. Her songs drift through desolate streets and cities haunted by those who never sleep. Within the stories, desire hides jagged edges and love dissolves into loss.

Floating synth, gripping guitar lines and Rob Nordli’s velvety saxophone add depth as heavy percussion crashes like waves. Jessica Ess’ vocals shift from whisper-soft confessions to powerful cries. The music’s vocabulary is made up of tumbling melodies, cascading textures and flickering tones that escape like memories slipping away.

Beachdolls’ explores longing, struggle and identity. The songs delve into toxic relationships and damaging attraction. A sense of drifting between places and selves fills each song. In the end, Beachdolls creates intimate, shadowed and deeply felt music.

Stacy Gabriel

Stacy Gabriel’s music drifts through misty emotional landscapes where trust is fickle and hope flickers briefly while truths emerge with clarity. The lyrics are full of people trying to understand each other across psychological distance, in search of meaning.

His soundscapes expand like petals opening to reveal secret layers, woven from tones, timbres and textures. Beats guide, patter or burst with intensity. Stacy Gabriel and his guests bring galvanizing emotion to bear as they interpret the lyrics, carrying me along with the undercurrents of sensation waiting within them.

All of the musical elements exist in a dreamy place of hovering tones, weightless chords and iridescent hues that create a cloudy haze, full of a warm retro glow. Stacy Gabriel’s music fuses emotion, an intertwining synth atmosphere and first rate storytelling.

All The Damn Vampires

All The Damn Vampires’ music wanders through jagged emotional terrain. Love is strained to the breaking point and devotion intertwines with hurt. The songwriting deals with rejection and desire, creating visceral monologues as they express fear, hope and the search for understanding

The band’s sonic world is sweeping and cinematic. Synth lines add gem-like light, drift like fog over midnight streets or contribute haunted warmth. Guitars charge the music with raw force, while drums gallop beneath the melody and towering basslines rumble like distant storms, anchoring the music.

Ryan Rose & Mint Simon’s vocals are each radiant and break open with passion. Their performances throb like exposed nerves, carrying damaged love, fiery yearning or the hollow ache of disconnection. Pain, devotion and hope rises and fall as each song weaves together.

Kraver

Kraver’s sound fuses emotional vulnerability and atmospheric richness. Each song delves into the complexity of relationships as synths move in finely woven lines, deep bass currents flow and percussion rebounds. The productions each reveal a facet of Kraver’s unique sound design and musical approach.

Kraver shapes fluid soundscapes which add support to his collaborative partners’ performances. The guest artist’s voices hover and pour outward with honeyed warmth, capturing regret, desire and self-awareness. Wistful melodies glide as the bass moves in a tidal flow, supporting vocals that reveal love's cravings and wounds.

Whether the narrator is pleading for affection, burning with desire or wrestling with guilt, the production delineates fine detail. Kraver creates sonic textures that mirror the lyrics’ intermingled emotions and rhythms ground the music in propulsive motion.

Synth Single Review: “Better Days" by Andrew Corbin

by Karl Magi

Andrew Corbin’s “Better Days" is full of serenity and hope. The song commences with a reverberating beat and snapping percussion before a metallic sweep is joined by a shaker. The bass rebounds as a descending sound is joined by a brief voice-over and the haunting pipes levitate with a digitally trailing sensation.

Andrew Corbin’s breathy voice traces through the music with a melody that is delicate and affectionate while open-sounding notes drift with exhaling elegance. The fragility of the vocals captures me with their surrounding tenderness while the underlying bass is joined by crisp drums. In the distance, softly swirling notes wrap around each other and the luscious bass rumbles.

The bouncing drums add fullness while Andrew Corbin’s vocal performance is hushed and full of calming smoothness as it glides and bends. The entire song exudes meditative qualities as Andrew Corbin breathes out warmth and encouragement before the music comes to a halt, choral voices fading away.

The narrator says, “I bet you know the way home to a better place” and he wants to follow the song’s subject “into better days.” It’s “another moment in time, lost in a memory,” another image in his mind that “fractures in front of me.” He’s found a passage through time, “music at night,” a “message wrapped in a mystery” and he follows the lights toward the hope waiting just ahead.