Single review – Kaiyra impresses with emotion-filled pop debut ‘Overnight’

• 25th Apr 2022

Something’s happened to pop music – and by that we mean the ‘proper’, unashamedly chart chasing stuff – of late.

The name used to be a tag of shame but since the likes of Charli XCX, Bilie Eilish and own favourite up and coming candidate Sabrina Kennedy all turned  up, it’s been seized back as a genre from the Disney kids.

The trance edged pop of London singer Kaiyra , making her debut here, is a case in point.  It’s the kind of slick, shinily produced piece of Euro-euphoria that would fit effortlessly into most Kiss or MTV Dance playlists with all the rises and dives in the right places.

But delve a bit deeper and there’s a murkier tale being told through the lyrics, a case of the idealism of love and the grubby practicalities of real life coming into conflict.  It’s smarter than it pretend to be – we like it that way round – and once you add her heartfelt, emotionally engaging vocal delivery, you have something that will jump out of the drive time schedule and clutch your heartstrings.

If you’re looking for a comparison, then maybe look back a little further to the open, confessional tone of Robyn at her best.  Oh yes, that good.