NYAs third EP, ‘Hold On’, pulls no punches as she launches into the four tracks with her sublime vocals dipping in and out of RnB, pop, rock, and even a little bit of country.
Stripped back and acoustic, NYAs vocals are allowed to shine, and aren’t at all overpowered by the scant instrumentals. She beguiles and caresses us with her voice, all while sharing lyrics which can at times be darkly humorous – such as in track 3, ‘Love You To Death’, in which she sings to her new love, who she has, “Misery” style, trapped in his doom.
In describing her latest EP, NYA says,
“I wrote the Hold On EP after falling in and out of love for the first time; so I wanted these songs about obsession, heartbreak, and growth to be really stripped down and honest. To me, this acoustic EP captures how I came to know myself better through first love and first heartbreak.”
There’s a lot on this record that makes us feel as though she’s singing to us directly. There’s no overbearing orchestrals, it’s just pulled back to the barest of acoustic bones alongside NYAs voice.
Title track and opener ‘Hold On’ refuses to hold onto any particular genre, and the same can be said for ‘Reconciliation’, which follows; the songs bend genres and dart between pop, soul, and tease us as to whom she most reminds us; we’re thinking Alicia Keys, but then, there’s a bit of Kate Bush, Katie Melua…basically it’s all just NYA.
EP closer ‘Electric’ does what all good records should, and leaves us wanting for more. There’s something of a Motown feel to the song, not modern Motown, but that of the old school girl group singers – maybe NYA reminds us a little bit of Diana Ross as well.
Find NYA online on her official website. You can listen to ‘Hold On’ here:
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