Album Review: Mia Wray - ‘hi, it’s nice to meet me’
Indie-pop artist Mia Wray releases her colourful debut album ‘hi, it’s nice to meet me’ .
The Australian singer-songwriter’s much-awaited debut album has arrived, and it’s energetic and joyful.
Wray started out on the folk music scene back in 2012 and has cited artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Laura Marling as inspirations to her. She later moved away from that sound and delved into the world of pop, citing Florence & The Machine and Maggie Rogers as influences. She went on to open for fellow Australian artists Riptide and The Teskey Brothers.
You can definitely tell that Wray has her roots in folk from this album, and her wonderful, arresting vocals throughout.
The opening track on the record is Nice to Meet Me, which is a fast-paced, fun song about what it means to really know yourself. Speaking on the song, Wray said: “This was the last song that was written. I was in the studio with G Flip, and I told them the story. I broke up with my boyfriend and I remember a couple of days after the breakup, I was like, I need to pack some things and just go. I remember kissing him for the last time, I knew it was the last time, and it was very intense.” Although the content of the song may be intense, the listening experience is actually very fun and thanks to the fantastic production.
Next up is Tell Her, a song about a crush, and feelings we can all relate to. “I wanna know her/I wanna know her name/I wanna hold her/And in the summer rain” Wray opens the song with her gorgeous voice. The production shimmers and glistens, the song really does sound like summer. It’s a definite stand-out from the album, and easy to see why it’s a single. “How could I make it better? Wish I had the nerve to tell her” Wray sings. The track is about a girl she met by chance. “I couldn’t stop thinking about her, it was scary and exciting.” She said.
Sad But True takes the record to a different place and slows things down. It’s softer, and Wray’s vocals shine once again. She really shows her vocal versatility across the album. It’s a song about the end of a relationship, and the reminiscing that comes along with that. “When you met me, a good kind of messy/Dead weight feels so heavy, it’s so sad/It’s so sad, but true”
Next up is my personal favourite song on the album; What If. Released last spring, it’s one that clicked instantly for me, I was so drawn in by the sound. It opens with shimmering synths that dance around joyfully. “What if it’s all I ever wanted? What if that house, back home, we bought it?” She opens the song, and is also the chorus, which is one that demands to be sung from the depths of your lungs, out of car windows in the summer. It’s a song about being scared to put yourself out there but reminding yourself of all of the reasons why you put yourself out there. Speaking about the meaning behind the song, Wray said: “I had really big feelings for someone, and I couldn’t stop worrying about what would happen if I told them how I felt. ‘What If’ is almost like a pros and cons list, but in song form. In the end, the positives ended up outweighing the negatives and I went for it.”
Another stand-out song is The Way She Moves, which is sultry and sexy. It has soul vibes, but as the song moves along and picks up, it could easily be a dance track, a very fun one to dance and move to.
Get Out My Way is another pick of mine. It’s such a lively, energetic song about confidence, and I found it comforting. The chorus is wonderfully crafted, with a real ear wormer of a melody, and the more songs about being unashamedly confident, the better.
Mia Wray has proved herself to be one of the most exciting up-and-coming artists in indie-pop today with this debut. I’m glad to have met her.
Words by Lucy Skeet
