I’ve got to tell someone about the music video that’s had a chokehold on me for the last two weeks. Picture it: the air is thick with longing for more than physical touch.
Touch is easy to come by – there’s a hunger for a deep, emotional intimacy here.
Here, the need for a familiar connection that drapes us in security outweighs how insecure it leaves us at the end. But the end is never truly the end because of the undeniable magnetism that expands beyond the reach of the cosmos.
If you’ve liked what you’ve heard, let me introduce you to your latest dark-pop fixation: Ashlynn Malia.
In their single, “Nobody Else”, Ashlynn Malia takes listeners through a sensual exploration of limerence. Limerence is a state of involuntary infatuation that’s characterized by an intense desire to be in a romantic connection with someone. Whoever the limerent individual pines for then becomes the limerent object, all of which can be identified in “Nobody Else”. The single opens with primal synths and Malia’s layered sultry vocals to showcase how limerent individuals’ passion for their limerent object becomes more than just the focal point of their life. It becomes their sole reason for existing. In the opening verse, our limerent is having continuous “visions” of the limerent object. While these visions range from distaste to seduced, the point is that they cannot get the limerent object off their mind. This then crystallizes the limerent’s feelings of there being “nobody else” but the limerent object for them. It’s only the limerent object for them. The got’cha of crystallization is that for every dewy-eyed feeling the limerent hyper-fixates on, their feelings of anguish intensify right alongside. In the pre-chorus, Malia vocalizes how they “[d]on’t wanna start again / With someone new”, highlighting the immense fear of losing the limerent object. Despite this fear, the believed cosmic connection between the limerent and their object outweighs it. And it’s not hard to understand why when something as little as the “smell of [the limerent object’s] cologne” invokes the “superhuman” emotions our artist discusses in the second and third verses - even if we’re aware that the limerent object is “wrong for” us. If Malia’s intricate lyrics haven’t convinced you how alluring a connection like this can be, maybe Robbie Blue’s choreography in the music video will. The choreography perfectly captures the all-consuming nature of limerence when left to linger. But the real caveat of limerence is that it has no real expiration date (only estimations). All we know is that limerents’ find themselves in a repetitive cycle; and with each passing cycle their feelings for the limerent object fade. Which makes the ending lines: “where it starts is where it ends / We don’t got to tell nobody else”, all the more profound. For this particular limerent, the feelings have yet to fade and they’re keeping themselves available to repeat another cycle.
Ashlynn Malia is a singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles with a natural endowment for crafting stories that relay personal sentiments while simultaneously transcending the metaphysical. Earlier fans might recognize Malia from her time with Kidz Bop, and her dance appearances in Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift’s music videos. Newer fans might better associate the artist with her 2022 Etheridge Island performance. Last year, the Etheridge Island Festival made its debut, bringing LGBTQ+ women and non-binary pals together to enjoy Melissa Etheridge’s wellness resort while getting to experience amazing music from a handful of artists. One of which was Ashlynn Malia. More recently, our artist released another EP, navigating galaxies, emphasizing their experimentation with ethereal pop. But today, Malia released their latest single, “Cool Girl”, which unbottles the pent up of vexations of being a lover girl that’s forced to masquerade as the patriarch’s desirable woman. If you’ve enjoyed Malia’s music as much as I have, show her some virtual love in the form of streams, likes, and follows.
Written by Giavanna Gradaille
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