header image: an echowave visual ft. kayla cheyenne, rena, conboy, and aftrprty
words: echowave hq
you know what time it is!
welcome back to soundwave spotlight – a monthly round-up where we tell you all about our favourite new songs from emerging acts. to say that narrowing down august’s excellent releases to only four was quite the challenge would be an understatement, really.
similarly to past editions, this month’s picks continue to explore the complexity of human nature. for kayla cheyenne, heartache resulted in the pursuit of making music – a lifelong dream of hers. irish musician rena, on the other hand, blends two important life decisions into a swayful double-act that’ll keep you coming back for me.
nyc singer-songwriter conboy’s latest offering ‘wasting time’ does the exact opposite of what the title suggests. it’s a candid conversation with oneself about pursuing your goals, and it’s well worth a listen. last but certainly not least, pop duo aftrprty mark their return with a track which proves that the finesse of their debut record was no fluke.
kayla cheyenne
anything
there’s a specific kind of magic, capable of creating new worlds and turbulent in equal measure, that an artist’s debut possesses. kayla cheyenne’s inaugural offering, too, yields such creative prowess – ‘anything’ is an atmospheric introduction which, although seemingly bite-sized, hints at a unique, varied sound that she describes as “a lot of different genres mixed together.” when it comes to storytelling, ‘anything’ finds cheyenne grappling with the emotional push-and-pull just after a break-up – and as her silky smooth vocals glide over a hazy lo-fi beat, you feel just as immersed in the worldbuilding as the artist behind it. “this has been an emotional and somewhat challenging process, given that this is the first song i’ve ever recorded,” cheyenne revealed in an instagram post. “i’ve always written songs and poems but never thought i could successfully make a song and fulfill that dream of mine.” below, she talks to us about the creative challenges that arose while making the song.
what inspired the track?
kayla cheyenne: was honestly fresh out of a breakup, had a lot of conflicting feelings. it’s essentially about missing someone while also knowing you maybe shouldn’t be together at that time. the writing process was very honest, and i was surrounded by friends who supported me and loved me enough to help me express some of my most vulnerable emotions.
did you face any challenges during the song’s creative process?
kayla cheyenne: definitely! with ‘anything’ being my very first song ever written and recorded everything was very new to me. i remember not really knowing how to sing into the mic, not knowing how to track on my own and still getting used to all of the technicalities. as well as learning to use different parts of the body to sing in different ways. i have a great team around me that helped me learn a lot.
what can listeners expect next?
kayla cheyenne: i plan to release more music very soon, which i’m really excited for! expect to hear along of variety. my music is compiled into a lot of different genres mixed together to create my individual and unique sound.
rena
idk
irish singer and songwriter rena is no stranger to introspection. even in the face of uncertainty and reluctance, she remains faithful to the art of self-reflection, and her latest offering is a testament to that. whereas its predecessor ‘nobody’ depicted an unrequited, star-crossed encounter rooted in deep yearning, ‘idk’ arrives alongside a two-part split that turns its focal point, hesitancy, into enough ammunition for a double-act – and though many songs have struggled to adopt this concept without losing artistic integrity, it’s exactly where ‘idk’ excels. while the first half searches for strength to erase a person from the innermost corners of your mind, the track’s finale is a deeply personal exploration of the tension that ambition is often laced with. regarding the song’s sound, which was co-produced by rena and orlaith onoh, it’s as mystical and swayful as one should come to expect by now, elavated by lyricism that feels intimate and relatable all the while. scroll down to read more about the inspiration behind it.
what inspired the track?
rena: [it] initially started with the idea of the first part, which explores the feeling of finally deciding to move on from someone who keeps trying to come back into your life. it’s about reaching a point where you know you don’t want to go backwards, even if that person is still holding on.
eventually ‘idk’ became a two-part song, which was really fun to create because the meaning of the song started to grow beyond the original idea. part two is more uplifting in sound and reflects a different kind of uncertainty, this time around life, change and the pressure of trying to make something of yourself. for me, it’s about chasing the things i want before hesitation makes me give up.
do you have a fave lyric?
rena: “i’m tryna chase this moment before i give it up, ’cause we’re all tryna make it.” this line reflects where i am in my own life. i’ve always dreamed of becoming an artist, and although the world i’m stepping into can feel competitive and overwhelming, i’m determined to keep chasing it. the lyric is about not giving up on something you really want, even when you’re unsure of where it’s going to take you.
what message do you hope your listeners take away from the song?
rena: that uncertainty, doubt, or even a person shouldn’t hold you back from moving forward. whether it’s letting go of that one situation that keeps running it back or trying to find your way in a competitive and sometimes overwhelming world, it’s important to choose yourself and keep going. you might not have everything figured out at that moment, and that’s ok. sometimes, you just have to trust yourself, keep moving and allow yourself to figure things out along the way.
If you had to describe the track in three colours, what would the palette look like?
rena: white, black and royal blue.
maria-ines
human nature
up-and-comer maria-ines finds herself dissecting human nature in her aptly-titled single – one of the most vulnerably ruminative indie pop tracks we have featured in recent months. reflecting on romance (or the lack thereof), growing pains, and personal insecurities, ‘human nature’ was written when the musician was visiting her family in mexico city. evidently, the song’s penmanship finds its courage in the foundation of maria-ines’s childhood, offering a chance to face her feelings head-on instead of shying away from them. released alongside two alternative renditions (‘room version’ and ‘instrumental’), the single doubles down on its minimalistic production to make room for its tender demeanor and julia michaels-esque delivery to fully bask in the limelight, just like it was intended. “we spent a lot of time making sure this song sounded exactly how we imagined it, so we wanted to give it the space it deserves,” maria-ines has revealed to us. “releasing all three versions allows listeners to experience the song through different stages of its journey – from the full production to its most intimate acoustic form, and finally the instrumental, where the emotion can stand on its own.”
what inspired the track?
maria-ines: when i wrote this song, i was back in my hometown, mexico city. i’d just gotten a new instrument and, like a kid, i was playing with a new toy. living abroad is definitely something that can be tough when it comes to missing my family; being at home, knowing my mum was right downstairs, gave me a sense of safety. i felt i could open up my heart and sing about my insecurities and make a song where they could live, in the most healing way possible. i wasn’t sure if a song would come [out of it], but i had a gut felling one might. a couple of melodies suddenly came to me and, within 30 minutes, i had written one of the most honest songs i’ve ever written. i think it was a feeling i had been carrying around that just needed somewhere to go, and this song became that place.
if you could ask any artist to feature on the remix, who would you reach out to?
maria-ines: i’d love to ask bruno major to remix the song and create a piano version of it with me. he’s an artist i really admire because he’s completely unapologetic about who he is. he knows his sound so well and has such a distinct identity, and his lyricism is something i’ve always looked up to.
did you face any challenges during the song’s creative process?
maria-ines: this song kind of fell into my lap, like some songs sometimes do. the challenge came afterwards, when i struggled to imagine a production for it because i felt like it worked so well on its own. i finally managed to crack the production with my producer and friend mike koh, and we decided to release an acoustic version alongside the main version. i really liked the idea of letting the song exist in both forms and allowing listeners to decide which version speaks to them most.
what can listeners expect next?
maria-ines: i’ve noticed people really enjoy hearing different versions of the same song, so i’ve decided to keep that in mind for my next release. i’ve been working a lot with my producer and friend mike koh to bring the next song to life, and i’m really excited to share it around october. it’s a little different from ‘human nature’, but still very much part of the same world i’m building.
conboy
wasting time
now, conboy is an artist that we’ve been fond of for quite some time. the nyc storyteller’s new single ‘wasting time’ deploys a folk pop-tinged twang that might be likened to role model and del water gap. however, once you move past the surface, you’ll notice that such vocal delivery feels like a wholehearted part of the conboy experience, too, especially when it’s paired with the punchy indie production that he has previously explored on tracks such as ‘depression’s obsession’ and ‘500 miles’ – that said, ‘wasting time’ sounds like a somewhat new sonical venture for him. of course, there are traces of the sound he’s been developing for the last couple of years, but it’s undoubtedly a natural evolution of conboy as an artist at the same time… and if it’s anything to go by, this track is currently spearheading a discography that is establishing its own legacy, in its own time.
what inspired the track?
conboy: ahhh hmm.. in a general sense, i think the title ‘wasting time’ is pretty self explanatory because that really is what inspired the track. more specifically, the song speaks to my own struggles with pursuing my goals and dreams, having the awareness of what i’d need to make them a reality, and my constant inner battle with like not quite being able to just commit myself to doing the thing. all in all it’s about waiting for things to happen. it’s weird to be totally confident in believing you have “it” inside you and then second guessing everything that would lead you to bring it to the surface. i’m quite the over-thinker haha.
do you have a fave lyric?
conboy: yes, the first few lines i wrote that start the song feel to me that they encapsulate the message of the song pretty directly: “i’ve been having trouble sleeping, chasing dreams right through the night / demon slayer fightin’ demons / countin’ sheep until i die.”
both figuratively and literally speaking, these goals and dreams i have for myself keep me up at night. staring at the walls, talking to myself about what i want out of life.. which feels like a never ending nightly occurrence – but it’s such a good problem to have, to be ambitious and excited about what tomorrow could bring. in life, i think you chase a dream until you catch it only for it to change shape and become something else you chase again and again seemingly until the day you die. i just want to be able to say i really tried. but also, “i’m so good at wasting time.”
what message do you hope your listeners take away from the song?
conboy: hmmm… i think that if you have something you think about all the time, something you truly want or love, even if you’ve never told anyone – just don’t give up. these are the things that provide purpose and make you, you. do your best, trust, and believe in yourself – no one else can do that for you. although it’s comfortable to waste time, there will never be a perfect moment to just do something so stop waiting and wasting.
admittedly, i just wrote that for myself haha… but i know the shoe fits someone reading this. keep going.
aftrprty
big and strong
aftprty, a pop duo formed by best friends clayton posey and gabriel legrange, return with their first piece of new music since anytime soon? – their debut album. released in april, the twelve-track project spanned stories of loss, heartache, and nostalgia – and despite it being the duo’s first collaboration on this scale, it’s the kind of body-of-work that doesn’t feel rookie in the slightest: the production is bold, sentimental, euphoric, and undeniably complex; the lyrics feature a contemporary approach to storytelling that makes the record feel current without sounding tiktok-ified; legrange’s vocals often soar alongside posey’s infectious guitar musings. the album, which posey described as a result of “so many hours of blood, sweat, and tears”, had essentially laid the groundwork for the artistic liberty that has now followed with the release of their new single. this time around, though, their sound exists in a darker, much grittier realm – the subject matter taps into legrange’s own lived experiences, which he elaborates on below.
what inspired the track?
aftrprty (gabriel): irony, in a sense. i have been scrawny pretty much my whole life, and people love to characterize me as such often. but i wanted it the first line to be an ironic question that provokes more thought to it. one person can be the physically strongest in the room, but are they emotionally and mentally capable of keeping themselves together?
which film’s soundtrack could you imagine it on?
aftrprty (gabriel): the song kind of has a heavier, darker, james bond theme sound going for it especially during the post-chorus’s so i always imagined that.
if you could perform it anywhere in the world, where would it be?
aftrprty: we would love to perform ‘big and strong’ at outsidelands music festival in san francisco next year. the festival has been extremely inspiring for us and seeing balu brigada (one of our favs and inspos) rock the stage this year made us want to play a time slot there and have a crowd jump with us even more.
do you have a fave lyric?
aftrprty (gabriel): my favorite lyric in the song is a line in the bridge, “tell me how i can be strong in my mind.” it’s a personal line about struggles with my own mental issues and self esteem. the song is about having a mask of confidence to counter your own minds negative thoughts.
