A Boundary Breaking Album Release From myah

A brilliantly built and unbelievably connective, undeniably honest, and straightforward release from myah delivers so much massive personality that it's almost impossible to turn away from simply because you want to hear the stories that are being told.

The artist recently released a full-length album, and throughout the course of this record, you have such vivid and detailed stories that get descriptive and personal to the level that you actually connect and completely understand where she's coming from.

Many elements about this release are catching. The allure comes not only from its musical standpoints, blending rock, pop, alternative approaches, dream-pop, cinematic undertones, and more, but also from the lyrics of this record.

It has been forever since I've heard an album that actually puts forth this much raw honesty, inner thought, and personality for the listener to really soak up.

This is something that you don't come across often, and when you do come across it, it serves as such a refresher because it reminds you of what true art is actually about.

This is vulnerable, unafraid, and comes at you from all angles with no walls built around it and many fewer boundaries than anything you might be used to in terms of not being filtered.

This is what makes the record so addictive. It's the personality behind the songs and the album that you connect with and want more and more of. And she delivers plenty of it.

It's that raw honesty that pulls you into the record and keeps you there. Just the fact that she's being that vulnerable and letting you know that she's got all this going on. The song serves like chapters in the artist's life, and you want to know more as you listen through the record, and it all unfolds.

To give you an example of exactly what I mean, just take the title of the record. This record is titled 'I don't know what I'm feeling'.

Just the title alone should give you a clue into what you're about to dive into.

The record opens up with the track called "dissolve", which serves amazingly as an introduction to the record because it does give you some of the staples that you're going to hear throughout the course of the album itself, but also gives you a heavy dose of that personality right off the bat.

Lyrically, it dives right into truths. Musically, it blends alternative pop with rock, utilizing some great guitar work that feels kind of heavy and edgy, with heavy-handed beats and these vocals that have such theatrical tonalities to them.

She does an amazing job of portraying this character throughout the song in her vocal performance. Making it sort of emotional, in a sense.

You can feel the moment when you listen to the song. It has an unbelievable way of actually putting you in that moment with her and this is part of what delivers that cinematic approach.

To me, something that's so emotionally driving can be very cinematic, but it's the music and production that really drives it out even further.

The following track is called "hurricane", which is the track that is not really heavy but more pop-oriented, bringing different instrumentation, pop sensibility, and a different vocal approach that lets her belt out a little bit more. 

This single comes across more colorfully and portrays less cinematic edginess and more brightness and vibrancy.

So, just in the first two tracks alone, you are getting such a great span of soundscapes and approaches.

As the album unfolds, you get more and more of this wonderful diversity, but still in a confluent and connective manner.

Again, each song is like a chapter in her life. You were able to walk through this with her and experience where she's coming from, the emotions that come along with it, may they be happiness, sadness, frustration, or aggression. You're getting a range of emotions throughout this record, which is why it feels so theatrical.

The music of this can actually feel theatrical at times as well. Not all the time, but sometimes you get this theatrical sense musically, which follows you right along with the premise and sort of aesthetic of the record lyrically.

Tracks like "toxic" simply portray that same great honesty but in more of a straightforward pop approach.

Her ability to blend the elements of vivacious and electric pop personality with that raw and unfiltered honesty, along with elements of edginess and heaviness, is brilliant.

By the time you get halfway through this record, you're not exactly sure what to expect. You begin to expect the unexpected.

Now, this is a 17-track record, technically. A few of these are more like introductions and interludes.

When you listen to this entire record, you start to get the full scope of what it actually offers. This is a concept record, and these songs are actually meant to be stories of her life and how she felt about those situations, going through them.

I absolutely love the title track, "I don't know what I'm feeling", which is the second to last song on the record and showcases more of that lush and beautifully open personality, more pop sensibility, but in a different approach, and serves as a great, 'almost' closer to the record.

All in all, this was a brilliant album that offers far more than what a lot of other pop records would. Yes, I call it a pop record simply because pop would be the common overtone throughout its course.

It's not pop in the sense that you think I mean. You just have to listen to this record to understand where I'm coming from.

There are several really well put together and shot music videos for some of the tracks off of this album, and it was hard for me to choose which one to pop in this review, but I went with her most recent one, which is completely outstanding, and you should start things off by watching that.

Once you've done that and you get a little bit of a feel for some of what the record has to offer, (because let's face it, you need to listen to this all the way through to really get everything it offers), you should play the record, and while you do that, read through our interview with her just below.

Either way, check this out right now and remember where you heard it first.

Buzz Slayers: Let's talk about i don't know what I'm feeling! This record showcased an array of approaches from indie and dream-pop to pop, rock and more, and all from a personal perspective!  Where did this album come from? 

In 2022, I had a conversation with my vocal coach about wanting to write original music. After years of doing covers, it felt like it was time. I struggle with expressing my emotions verbally, which I’ve learned is tied to something called alexithymia. I think a lot, and pretty much my whole life I've always had all of these feelings and thoughts in my head, but I didn’t know how to say them out loud. Every time I tried, nothing came out. When I started writing music, it was like all of a sudden I was able to communicate what I was feeling. Something unlocked, and it was exciting.

My life went through a very big change from when I started writing this album to when it was finished. When I started, it felt like there was so much on the horizon to look forward to, and by the end of it, I lost my car, my apartment, the film industry collapsed, my agent and manager dropped me, a movie deal I had fell through, I had the worst breakup of my adult life, and my brother Hunter passed away very suddenly.

In a lot of ways, i don't know what i'm feeling, was the only connective piece from my old life to the life I'm currently in. It's a reflection of who I was then and who I am now. While I was enduring these hardships, all I had to ground me was finishing this album. The record doesn't touch on my brother's passing away; I haven't been able to write about that yet. But my thoughts and feelings about falling in love, losing it, and ultimately trying to make sense of it, is the framework of the album.

Buzz Slayers: I'm hearing a few different styles to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

I have a lot, but I'll keep it brief haha. For the most part, I'd say my biggest musical influences are the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Foxing, Modest Mouse, and Twenty One Pilots. Twenty One Pilots was the first band I ever watched as a fan "blow up". I went to their tiny tour back in 2013 and have been to every tour since. It's been inspiring growing up with a band that has put so much into their artistry and has stayed true to the fans.

I mostly admire these bands' lyrics, which to me, sing like poetry (not all the songs haha. But most). It's clear they write about things they've actually thought about or been through, versus something more manufactured or written by someone else. That means a lot to me as a listener. Their production choices are so intentional, and it's everything I admire about alternative music. It's memorable, and you can't escape the way it makes you feel. I'll play 3rd Planet by Modest Mouse, and I remember exactly where I was as a young kid listening on my older brother's (Devin) iPod for the first time. That's special. I try to evoke a similar experience.

Is it hard for you to write songs like this, or did they come to you pretty easily?

If anything, it's the opposite. I sometimes wonder if I write too many songs like this. As I mentioned before, when you struggle with expressing yourself verbally, having a way to finally communicate is the most freeing thing I've ever experienced. I wrote my EP "IS THIS WHAT I SEE?" and "i don't know what i'm feeling", in the same year. Together, that's 25 songs, and I had released a few singles as well that weren't on these projects. I think it was around 30 songs in total over the course of a year.

Since Hunter passed away, I haven't been able to write as much. I think the grief from that experience turned everything off. But I'm slowly starting to write again. I feel ready.

Buzz Slayers: How did this all start for you as an artist?

Like most, I fell in love with music at a very young age. I wasn't naturally gifted at playing an instrument, though. I could sing, but I wasn't like Olivia Rodrigo singing as a kid or the kids on America's Got Talent who can belt across the world. lol. I had a sweet voice, but not a voice that was stage-ready. I did musical theatre in middle school, and while I dreamed of Broadway, my insecurities surrounding my own singing voice shelved that idea for a while.

I was raised by my mom. We didn't have a lot of money growing up, and I didn't have the means to pursue a music career. It just didn't feel possible, so I focused on my other love, which is filmmaking (and working in the film industry is my day job). I interned at iHeart Radio (I think) back in 2014, and that caused my eyes to go wide again. I really loved music, but I just didn't know how to even start. When I moved to Los Angeles in 2018, after getting settled and finally making a little bit of money, I decided to take singing lessons. From 2019 to now, I've taken singing lessons weekly to get better. I think the singing lessons are what allowed me to realize that making music could be possible. While that was happening, I was simultaneously producing music videos for major artists -- Oliver Tree, The Maria's, Ty Dolla Sign...etc. and that's how I learned the business side of things and applied it to my own artistry.

So I can't say that I have this clean start. I think I've been preparing and growing into an artist since I was a kid. It's been a collection of growing up, life experience, and hard work to get where I am now, talking to you.

Buzz Slayers: Are you performing live right now? Any touring in support of the release?

I love performing live and my band is awesome, but we don't have any shows scheduled at the moment. I would love to tour this album one day, or open for a more established artist, but that opportunity I haven't fully found yet.

Buzz Slayers: Your video's are all so different! Do you come up with those concepts?

Thank you haha. I hope different is a good thing. When I was starting out, my initial videos weren't my ideas. "hide" and "everything", were both directed by Julian Baner. He came up with those ideas, and I love his work so much. "i'll be your light", was shot and directed by my friend James Smith. "notice you", "now or never", "hurricane", and "the lobby" were directed and shot by Daniel Cho. "the lobby" was my first original concept, but Daniel helmed the execution. I owe a lot to Daniel, because my life was truly in shambles when we made those videos. I was struggling a lot on the inside, and you can see it on the outside a little. I was so tired. I think "notice you", you can see the heavy bags under my eyes from months of not sleeping and crying. I didn't want to let the hardships stop me from continuing to put work out, and in a lot of ways, Daniel carried me. I don't think he really knows that, but I owe a lot to him. "the lobby" was the first music video that made me realize I prefer making more narrative-based music videos than music videos that are solely performing or dancing.

"dodging bullets", "glitter", and "dissolve" (dropping 9/17), are the first music videos that I directed and edited. I wasn't initially going to direct these. It happened because I actually couldn't afford a director. I got to a point where I felt bad for paying my friends very little for all the work they put in. Since my career is being a film director and producer, I decided I would do it myself, and I really enjoy it. I feel like I'm able to express myself in a new way by turning these songs into films, which is how I see them when I write them. I hope it gets to the point where whenever fans see a new video coming out, they know one thing: myah's taking you to the movies.

Buzz Slayers: Now that this is out, what's next for you?

I still have a lot of work to do to push this album. It's out, but there are a lot of people who have yet to hear it. That's the trouble of being an indie artist, you drop music, but not a lot of people hear it or know about it. So for now, it's pushing this record. I know I'm going to have a follow-up album that feels like a part two, but not until this record gets the attention it deserves.

Buzz Slayers: Who's in your headphones right now?

Cherub's new album "Everything Changes and That's OK" is awesome. The production is so so good. It just released. Long Story Short, Make It Out Alive, and Crime Scene have been on repeat for me. 

Buzz Slayers: What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

A very honest album. It's meant to be listened to in order from start to finish, and the lyrics are intertwined. If you like stories, then that's what this album will give you. For example, in "now or never", the lyrics say, "did you want me? when you're fast asleep? with those lazy dreams", and in "glitter", I sing, "remember that dream, where you're next to me? could we stay here for a while?" It's the same dream, different context. The scenario has changed.

"i don't know what i'm feeling", explores every feeling you experience when you think you’ve met the one, but it doesn’t work out. It’s a collection of every emotion; wonder, lust, feeling the butterflies, falling in love, being in love, but also, heartbreak, anger, and hopefully, closure. It's a love letter to my 20s as a hopeless romantic who didn't make all the right choices. I hope people are able to put themselves into these songs and feel what I've felt. 

Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

Thank you for listening and being a part of this journey. There's so much more on the horizon. More music. More videos. More storytelling. At the end of the day, everything I do is for the fans, and I hope they stick around to see what unfolds.

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