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 plain – and irresistibly catchy.
Stream: “The Hit” – aleksiah
Songwriting, or something that you simply’re actually obsessed with, can sort of be like a poisonous relationship – you all the time wish to do properly, to please somebody, always 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 hearth and finesse on “The Hit.”
A daring, glistening standout off her new EP Cry About It (launched July 11th by way of 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 bought 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
At the very least I feel I do
I do know that I’m certain to lose
this match between us
A lock and a pair keys
Harness and heavy leash
Makin’ it arduous to go away
“Oh, it’s the hit that cuts me to my core / When the writing’s on the wall / Perhaps 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 push 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 more durable to breathe
After I don’t really feel the push
When the phrases will not be 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 liked the way it could possibly be seen from two factors of view, feeling pressured to make a success music and a relationship, so I wished to strive my hand on the similar factor,” aleksiah tells Atwood Journal.
“The music is about feeling unworthy, and having that exterior (however largely inside) stress on you to do properly. However then you could possibly spin the story and skim 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 instantly 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 push 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
Perhaps this’ll be my downfall
Child, it’s the hit that will get me by way of the night time
Leaves me thinkin’ that I’m fantastic
Within the mornin’ I’ll be all yours
Child, it’s ooh, manner 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
Perhaps this’ll be my downfall, downfall
I used to be feeling fairly down, and had a number of stress not solely from others, however primarily from myself to write down the proper 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 properly. I’ve all the time been an individual that places a number of satisfaction and a number 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 push / And the phrases will not be 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 totally 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
Combat it like gravity
You make it so arduous to go away
Now it, it’s as much as me
It’s so arduous to imagine
There’s nothin’ left to make a multitude of
Guess I’m runnin’ out of steam, ’trigger I
Don’t really feel the push
And the phrases will not be 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 “people who take themselves a bit of too significantly, 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 attempting 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 a giant 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 beneath stress; somewhat, she breaks the cycle and turns her ache into pop gold.
As superbly daring as it’s brutally sincere, “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 placing instance of the depth and nuance she brings to her craft. Atwood Journal spoke with aleksiah about writing by way of stress, the which means behind her standout music, and the private journey that formed Cry About It. Learn our interview under, 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
Perhaps this’ll be my downfall
Child, it’s the hit that will get me by way of the night time
Leaves me thinkin’ that I’m fantastic
Within the mornin’ I’ll be all yours
Child, it’s ooh, manner 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
Perhaps 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 night time, I had simply listened to one in every of my fave songs, “Love Music” by Sara Bareilles and I liked how the music could possibly be seen from two factors of view, feeling pressured to make a success music and a relationship, so I wished to strive my hand on the similar factor. The music is about feeling unworthy, and having that exterior/however largely inside stress on you to do properly, to make folks glad. However then you could possibly spin the story and skim 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 intense, 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 properly, I’ve all the time been an individual that places a number of satisfaction and a number 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 totally 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 break up into two little ‘mini EPs’ in a manner, and the divide could be very obvious on the vinyl, with Facet A and Facet B. Facet A which has “Batsh*t,” “Hold My Cool” and “Chilly,” could be very enjoyable, flamboyant, theatrical and a bit loopy. I wished it to be solely about want 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 attempting 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 a giant launch to get a weight of stress and perfectionism off of my chest.
For many who are simply discovering you as we speak by way of 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 provides it a distinct segment perspective, I suppose it’s all the time actually enjoyable to write down like that. Lots of my music tends to have a somewhat critical or unhappy subject, however with a extremely contrasted sound within the manufacturing, it’s music for those that take themselves a bit of too significantly, 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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