AYA: Gaslight [Single Review]

Once again dear music lover you’re in for a treat! The music Mecca, the Disneyland for musicians that is Liverpool keeps on giving you great music.

London born Liverpool native AYA is the recent treat for your ears, bleeding a plethora of styles from R&B, Rap and Folk! Believe me when I say this, he’s one to watch and have on repeat! So on March 18th get “Gaslight” on cause damn it’s one tasty little number.

The first time I saw this fine fellow perform was at Manchester’s iconic open mic at the Whiskey Jar. This was the first song I heard him play and I was hooked. If you’re a fan of Sam Cooke, Ben Howard or even Tupac, AYA is your guy!

What’s great about this song is that you’ve got everything you could want in a song. You’ve got soul, you’ve got drama, the performance from every instrument makes you believe every note played/sung comes from a genuine place and it’s got a funky rhythm that only Luther Vandross himself could only dream of and so much more!

In this song it clearly establishes AYAs signature sound of “Anthemic R&B Folk”, blending R&B tones with Middle Eastern effects, laid out and exposed clearly from the word go of this song.

If you want a track to get jiggy with it to or you unfortunately are going through a terrible time or have a mate who’s had their heartbroken I urge you to stick this on your stereo now! His voice will fill your room and eventually your soul that will help you dance and sing your cares away.

Recorded and produced by the legendary singer songwriter Alex Hulme, this track has a great mix that gives the vocals and the violin room to dance around the space above the right funky rhythm section. Be sure to have a listen back to Alex’s stuff as well, you can hear the lessons learnt from his previous releases and how they’ve impacted on this record, in particular to “Lost the Feeling”.

If you listen carefully, or just have a stalk of AYAs socials you will notice the lovely harmony work of Frankfurt native also living in Liverpool, Leonie Jakobi! Adding a lovely addition to AYAs vocals and a real haunting/reflexive tone to the middle of the track where all that’s there is just the strum of the acoustic guitar, a violin and her voice. If you’re a Damien Rice fan or even have a soul you’ll love this bit.

The arrangement of this song for myself is a real blend of each players individual talents being allowed license to add their stamp to AYA phenomenal writing and really drive this soul train home.

What’s worth noting is that this is only AYAs 3rd single! In a short space of time the development of this artist is like watching a rocket go off! Not just in his live show but with the increased level of production, the artwork becoming more elaborate and even the writing. It’s like he’s given everything he’s got into each song put it out there for you to enjoy and after the dust has settled gone back, learnt his lessons and then gone charging head first into the thick of the creative fire only to come out stronger every time.

To put this entire review simply. The lyrics are gorgeous, the harmonies divine and the groove to die for.