Listen: Get Away — Ayelle

Gently glittering with a naked vulnerability, Ayelle’s new single Get Away puts the Swedish-Iranian songwriter’s vocals front and centre. With a delicately picked guitar, soft bass tones and subtle percussion, Ayelle’s chorus gets all the space it needs to create an emotional impact.

Get Away is the result of Ayelle struggling with the ability to define boundaries and avoid a repeating pattern of over-investment to the point of burnout. Ayelle explains:

“I wrote 'Get Away' from a place of frustration about the repeating patterns in my life and how I can't ever seem to stay in one place. It actually started out as a letter to the music industry and the way I'd been pouring myself into my work yet feeling like it was never enough. Then those feelings merged with that of a recent break up, and I realised that I sometimes feel similarly about my romantic relationships as I have with the music industry. (It’s) like I'm pouring all of my energy into something or someone until I reach a breaking point and have to step away from it all, or continue forward in a new direction, in search of replenishing my energy and restoring balance to my life.”

Having grown up in Sweden and Spain, Ayelle moved to London to pursue her passion for music, gaining support from a list that reads like a who’s who of music media and cultural commentary — Billboard, Pitchfork, 1Xtra, NYLON and Highsnobiety. Created with Swedish producer Pontus Persson, Get Away is taken from Ayelle’s upcoming project shadowselfluv, which is described as “a space for merging shadow work with self love”. She has previously appeared on BlackPlastic.co.uk with the beautiful Regrets.

Listen: Regrets - Ayelle feat. Akacia

Ayelle is a Swedish-Iranian musician and songwriter who grew up in Sweden and Spain before moving to London. Having received a PRS Women Make Music grant, Ayelle has focused on creating music the explores power dynamics in relationships, self-referection and challenging the status quo.

Regrets captures a sense of a desire to move forwards and be more accepting of what we are now. The tension we feel when we lack security - the need to project a sense of normality and confidence, when inside what we feel is often very different. Describing the motivation behind the record, and her collaboration with Akacia, Ayelle says:

“Regrets is about the anxiety involved in keeping up appearances and longing for something more. Akacia and I started working on the track remotely last year and brought it to BB who's production really brought it to life.”

The result is a track that feels raw and emotional, yet brims with a growing sense of self-confidence and vulnerability. Synths gently pan and bass rumbles as Ayelle’s cut-up vocals perform a form of melodic gymnastics between a series of verses that feel soothing in the simplicity. Regrets is both minimal, and also sophisticated in its application of detail.

written by @akacia & @ayelle produced, mixed and mastered by @bbviiv I'm sorry I said it Be sure to regret it Do you sometimes wish you could unsay Shouldn't have said it Do you get sick of pretending Everything is always okay Sometimes I wonder what it feels like To lose your mind And I wanted to try it Just one time To let my heart say what's really on my mind I didn't wanna have regrets this time I'm sorry I did it I already regret it I sometimes feel like I'm not safe I'm sorry I said it I get so sick of pretending Everything is always okay Sometimes I wonder what it feels like To lose your mind And I wanted to try it Just one time To let my heart say what's really on my mind I didn't wanna have regrets this time