© Lucy Sandler

Tour-de-force, LA-based, singer-songwriter, Miya Folick returns with the first new single, “Malibu Barbie” since her critically acclaimed album Premonitions released in October last year. It was then that *Miss Vogue *spotlighted Miya for her formidable vocals that is heard in the epic and unabashed single, “Dead Body” – a timely song written during the height of the #MeToo movement about women taking back control of their bodies and autonomy, and just like us, she's still not sick of it.

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“Even though it's a bit aggressive, I continue to love performing "Dead Body" live. What I like is that the first lyric is so cutting, and the attitude is really powerful. There’s power in self-awareness because it’s saying, ‘I know how I look to you; I know what you like about me, you might think this about me, but I saw the situation for what it really is. So, fuck you,” she laughs.

If you have listened to Miya’s music, in which she demands reverence and authority, you might think that she is just as fiery in person. But in fact, Miya radiates serenity. There's power in how composed and self-aware she is and "Malibu Barbie" – while a sonic and lyrical step away from her previous music – delivers her most direct message of self-affirmation yet.

© Lucy Sandler

“"Malibu Barbie" is a song that’s close to me because it’s a song about my 20s,” she told Miss Vogue. “Growing up as a teenager, I was very much a purist – my mum never wore makeup or did her hair or wore fancy clothes and I was the same. I judged people who would do all that, thinking I was above them because I thought I was comfortable in my own skin, when actually, I was just internalizing to an extent, misogyny. How could I have known whether or not I liked those things if I hadn’t tried them myself? So, I spent my 20s exploring these different ways of being that was partially wrapped in insecurity.”

As we find ourselves living in the height of social media and in an expose-it-all era, the ubiquitous phrase ‘be yourself’ has almost become void of meaning. But Miya poignantly opens up the questions surrounding identity within a three-minute window and her take is an artistic and refreshing revelation.

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Nonchalantly, she opens “Malibu Barbie” with: “My vehicle, my credit card, my vogue, my ice cream, my coconut”. She then takes you through her journey of self-exploration over light, Cali-pop-synths, singing in the chorus, “I never learned to pretend to be Malibu Barbie I think I’d really rather be Malibu Barbie”, and concludes the song with the self-realising outro: “Don’t take it seriously. Oh no, I’m still a human being”.

© Lucy Sandler

“I became obsessed with this specific type of beautiful and cool, because there are endless possibilities of who you can be all over social media. So, this song is a playful but serious take on the idea of ‘okay, let’s go get our nails done’, but what happens when you take it too far? Ultimately, I realised that I can never be that ideal because it doesn’t really exist and the pursuit of it is intoxicating. Growing up, I was constantly told to ‘be myself’. But what does that even mean? And how can you be yourself when you haven’t tried all the possible versions that you could be?”.

© Lucy Sandler

Having grown up with a Buddhist upbringing, Premonitions is an insight to the singer’s grounded views on life. She coins her music as "domestic pop" as she sings about mundane acts calling them “tiny happinesses” in the track “What We’ve Made”, which to some may be unusual, but her philosophical approach to life accredits her lyrics to be profoundly genius.

“Those everyday moments just don’t get enough attention in music, as opposed to romantic love," she explains. "With Premonitions, I wanted to explore things outside of romantic love, and instead of understanding myself through those small actions. Those small moments hold the same power as greater ones, and they both give life great beauty – they’re different, but the same – in that you feel the same amount of connectivity and presence in the world. With this job, travelling a lot, not being able to see my friends, the uncertainty – there’s so little you can rely on. So, for me, focusing on feeling connected, grounded and centred in the world, whether it be through the smaller gestures, is a way of surviving. My mum and my girlfriend are examples of people in my life who are good and better at it than me, which is wonderful.”

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Romantic love is, however, a topic that Miya will cover in her next album that will also see a departure from her previous music and writing style. “Right now, I’m interested in direct lyricism and in making a poppier, more polished album. Premonitions was writing about my current life and it’s interesting, because now I’m writing from a more hopeful place and of extreme safety. I'm able to write about my past relationships as I reflect on all that’s happened.”

© Lucy Sandler

They say that your voice is your most powerful tool and for Miya, the phrase couldn’t be more true. She paints, as the Chinese proverb goes, what the eyes can’t see, as she masterfully expresses a whole range of emotions in her anthem-like songs. She growls in “Premonitions”, she’s playful yet assertive in “Stop Talking” and in “Leave The Party”, and she channels hurt in “Thingamajig”. Many have compared her to vocal titans including Björk, Florence Welch and Fiona Apple – but there's prowess and range to Miya’s voice like no other as she oscillates between

singing angelic soprano howls and licks to belting in the alto regions and everything in between – skills, allowing to classical training from a young age and from her studies at NYU.

“My first year of college was emotionally horrible. They broke you down and taught you the tiny details of really knowing how to use your body as an instrument. The training was extremely complicated, like learning how to really relax your tongue, how to use your hands properly. Back then, I sang nicely – I had a nice tone. But it wasn’t impressive because I was concerned with singing right. Once I left college and started writing music, I made a catchphrase for myself: ‘I don’t want to sing to impress, I want to sing to express'."

© Lucy Sandler

It's ironic that Miya is unaware that she has transcended her own catchphrase – as her self-awareness in life and with her physical body makes her a powerhouse like no other and a true force to be reckoned with.