Australian artist aleksiah unpacks perfectionism, stress, and pop catharsis in “The Hit,” a searing, aptly-titled standout off her newest EP ‘Cry About It’ that turns unfiltered emotion and the overwhelming drive to create one thing nice into one thing simple – and irresistibly catchy.
Stream: “The Hit” – aleksiah
Songwriting, or something that you just’re actually enthusiastic about, can type of be like a poisonous relationship – you all the time wish to do nicely, to please somebody, consistently chasing after that rush of validation. It may be like a drug.
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Validation is a hell of a drug – and aleksiah chases that top with fireplace and finesse on “The Hit.”
A daring, glistening standout off her new EP Cry About It (launched July 11th through Chugg Music and Stellar Set off), this music hits like a jolt to the system: All pulsing beats, glowing synths, and emotionally uncooked vocals that ache and soar in equal measure. Assume MUNA meets Lily Allen, with a contact of 2010s “recession pop” – all wrapped round a voice that pulls you in and doesn’t let go.
I obtained the assistance I would like
I do know the grass is inexperienced
I don’t suppose I’ll ever be,
be sufficient for you
Hung up on jealousy
Caught on a melody
Discovering the lacking piece
inside my bed room
I need the identical as you
Not less than I feel I do
I do know that I’m sure to lose
this match between us
A lock and a pair keys
Harness and heavy leash
Makin’ it exhausting to depart
“Oh, it’s the hit that cuts me to my core / When the writing’s on the wall / Possibly this’ll be my downfall…” the Adelaide, Australia-based singer/songwriter belts, her voice simmering with self-awareness and desperation. Written alone in a lodge room, “The Hit” is concerning the stress to create one thing nice – to be nice – and the frenzy of validation that comes with it.
Now it, it’s as much as me
It’s a thousand levels
And each second, each minute,
it will get tougher to breathe
After I don’t really feel the frenzy
When the phrases should not sufficient
After I’m lookin’ on the web page
and I’m pretendin’ that it’s love
“I had simply listened to one in every of my favourite songs, ‘Love Music’ by Sara Bareilles, and I cherished the way it may very well be seen from two factors of view, feeling pressured to make a success music and a relationship, so I needed to attempt my hand on the identical factor,” aleksiah tells Atwood Journal.
“The music is about feeling unworthy, and having that exterior (however principally inside) stress on you to do nicely. However then you may spin the story and browse it like a music a couple of poisonous relationship, and that ‘the hit’ is the validation you get from being with somebody, and the way it’s nearly like a drug.”
We really feel that duality – of longing and collapse, of pouring your full self into one thing that may simply break you – come to life within the music’s charged and churning refrain, the place aleksiah rises to a frenzied fever pitch. Her voice resonates with coronary heart, ardour, and urgency as synths pulse in time along with her, and immediately we’re within the thick of it – caught within the high-stakes push-pull of self-worth and self-destruction. Her phrases, underscored by the dazzling emotion packed into her voice, turns the frenzy of validation into each a lifeline and a legal responsibility. The hit, in each sense, is the drug and the harm – the explanation she retains reaching, and the explanation it hurts a lot:
Oh, it’s the hit that cuts me to my core
When the writing’s on the wall
Possibly this’ll be my downfall
Child, it’s the hit that will get me via the evening
Leaves me thinkin’ that I’m effective
Within the mornin’ I’ll be all yours
Child, it’s ooh, means you have a look at me
Inform me it’s future, “we may make historical past”
Oh child, it’s the hit that cuts me to the core
Leaves me dyin’ on the ground
Possibly this’ll be my downfall, downfall
I used to be feeling fairly down, and had lots of stress not solely from others, however primarily from myself to write down the right music.
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That duality is the guts of “The Hit” – a dance between craving and collapse, between ambition and unraveling. “For me it’s about placing a lot stress on myself to do nicely. I’ve all the time been an individual that places lots of pleasure and lots of perception within the issues I do, which I swear goes to kill me in the long run,” aleksiah says wryly. “Don’t really feel the frenzy / And the phrases should not sufficient / Like I’m lookin’ at a river and pretendin’ it’s a flood.” She’s chasing perfection, even when it hurts – capturing in music the catharsis that comes from lastly admitting how a lot it takes out of you.
“It might not sound like a very private music, however the state of affairs the music speaks about is extremely near my chest.”
Lackin’ the empathy
Trustworthy and hellish we
Naturally disagree and may’t escape it
Knowin’ you’re dangerous for me
Struggle it like gravity
You make it so exhausting to depart
Now it, it’s as much as me
It’s so exhausting to consider
There’s nothin’ left to make a multitude of
Guess I’m runnin’ out of steam, ’trigger I
Don’t really feel the frenzy
And the phrases should not sufficient
Like I’m lookin’ at a river
and pretendin’ it’s a flood
“The Hit” marks a shift on Cry About It, falling on the EP’s B-side and signaling a sonic and emotional evolution. “The final two songs I wrote for the EP have been ‘Garments Off’ and ‘The Hit,’ that are much more poppy and at this cut-off date, I’m actually resonating with that sound,” she explains. “I feel ‘The Hit’ actually matches in with the second half of the EP.” Impressed by writers like Sara Bareilles and her personal childhood love of “miserable songs with enjoyable pop beats,” aleksiah makes music that feels each deeply private and universally felt – for “those who take themselves a little bit too critically, however want they didn’t (me).”
“I hope listeners know they’re not alone in the event that they’re a perfectionist,” she shares. “They’re not loopy for making an attempt their hardest… and if folks of their life inform them to ‘sit back,’ don’t take heed to them.”
“For me, I feel it was an enormous launch to get a weight of stress and perfectionism off of my chest.”
It may be concerning the weight of expectation, however “The Hit” is a launch – explosive, exhilarating, and unforgettable. aleksiah doesn’t buckle underneath stress; reasonably, she breaks the cycle and turns her ache into pop gold.
As fantastically daring as it’s brutally trustworthy, “The Hit” captures aleksiah at her most uncooked, self-aware, and sonically daring. It’s a second of readability disguised as a dramatic, dynamic dancefloor anthem – and a hanging instance of the depth and nuance she brings to her craft. Atwood Journal spoke with aleksiah about writing via stress, the which means behind her standout music, and the non-public journey that formed Cry About It. Learn our interview beneath, and stream aleksiah’s beautiful new EP wherever you get music!
Oh, it’s the hit that cuts me to my core
When the writing’s on the wall
Possibly this’ll be my downfall
Child, it’s the hit that will get me via the evening
Leaves me thinkin’ that I’m effective
Within the mornin’ I’ll be all yours
Child, it’s ooh, means you have a look at me
Inform me it’s future, “we may make historical past”
Oh child, it’s the hit that cuts me to the core
Leaves me dyin’ on the ground
Possibly this’ll be my downfall, downfall
Don’t you complainin’
to anyone else, physique else, no
Oh honey, you introduced
this on your self, on your self, oh
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:: stream/buy Cry About It right here ::
:: join with aleksiah right here ::
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Stream: ‘Cry About It’ EP – aleksiah
A CONVERSATION WITH ALEKSIAH
Atwood Journal: aleksiah, what is the story behind your music “The Hit”?
aleksiah: I wrote the music alone in a lodge room at evening, I had simply listened to one in every of my fave songs, “Love Music” by Sara Bareilles and I cherished how the music may very well be seen from two factors of view, feeling pressured to make a success music and a relationship, so I needed to attempt my hand on the identical factor. The music is about feeling unworthy, and having that exterior/however principally inside stress on you to do nicely, to make folks completely happy. However then you may spin the story and browse it like a music a couple of poisonous relationship, and that “the hit” is the validation you get from being with somebody, and the way its nearly like a drug.
There’s a lot uncooked emotion and unfiltered aching on this music – an ideal complement to the brilliant, lush instrumentation! What’s this music about, for you personally?
aleksiah: I assume for me it’s about placing a lot stress on myself to do nicely, I’ve all the time been an individual that places lots of pleasure and lots of perception within the issues I do, which I swear goes to kill me in the long run lol. It might not sound like a very private music, however the state of affairs the music speaks about is extremely near my chest.
How does this monitor match into the general narrative of Cry About It?
aleksiah: I really feel just like the EP is cut up into two little ‘mini EPs’ in a means, and the divide may be very obvious on the vinyl, with Facet A and Facet B. Facet A which has “Batsh*t,” “Hold My Cool” and “Chilly,” may be very enjoyable, flamboyant, theatrical and a bit loopy. I needed it to be solely about need and anger, as a result of after I was writing these tracks, I used to be in a little bit of an indignant a part of my life. The final two songs I wrote for the EP have been Facet B, “Garments Off” and “The Hit,” that are much more poppy and at this cut-off date, I’m actually resonating with that sound. So I feel “The Hit” actually matches in with the second half of the EP.
What do you hope listeners take away from “The Hit,” and what have you ever taken away from creating it and now placing it out?
aleksiah: That they’re not alone in the event that they’re a perfectionist, they’re not loopy for making an attempt their hardest, and if folks of their life inform them to “sit back,” don’t take heed to them. For me, I feel it was an enormous launch to get a weight of stress and perfectionism off of my chest.
For many who are simply discovering you as we speak via this writeup, what would you like them to learn about you and your music?
aleksiah: I like to write down music that takes a broad idea and offers it a distinct segment perspective, I suppose it’s all the time actually enjoyable to write down like that. Loads of my music tends to have a reasonably severe or unhappy subject, however with a extremely contrasted sound within the manufacturing, it’s music for those who take themselves a little bit too critically, however want they didn’t (AKA me).
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:: stream/buy Cry About It right here ::
:: join with aleksiah right here ::
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Stream: “The Hit” – aleksiah
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