Mahalia – ‘IRL’ review: bold, vulnerable, classic R&B

13 July, 2023

Mahalia

The video for Mahalia‘s track ‘Cheat’ features fisheye lens effects, flip phones and zig-zag gelled-down hair as a nod to ‘90s music visuals and style. Soulful singer Jojo, who made a name for herself in the early 2000s with her hit ‘Leave (Get Out)’, lends a fresh layer of vibrato to the song as the duo sing about focusing on yourself and realising “I’m about to reach my limit”. Their duelling callouts of bad behaviour draw comparisons to Brandy and Monica’s ‘The Boy Is Mine’ (1998), and as the second single from her album ‘IRL’ the track clearly shows Mahalia’s penchant for hits of the past. Still, as the Leicester-born singer told NME about her LP, lyrically it focuses more on her present and future and how a decade of making music led her to believe that “vulnerability isn’t weakness”.

In her previous album, 2019’s ‘Love And Compromise‘ Mahalia wrote songs about “putting a middle finger up” to men and always coming “out on top”, like her sultry, spiralling track ‘I Wish I Missed My Ex’. But for her second full-length collection, she wanted to share “real” moments, drop the bravado and show listeners who she really is. ‘IRL’ is a succesful manifestation of that desire, with songs highlighting everything from the confidence she found during therapy sessions to relationship trauma she thought she’d already resolved.

READ MORE: Mahalia on her emotional, empowering new record: “I didn’t think I would finish this album”

In her track ‘Goodbyes’ she asks “Why is this all I am to you? Is this how it ends?” over a staggered dance beat, mirroring her ability to laugh through life’s hardest moments. In ‘Wassup’ she interpolates Soul For Real’s ’90s hit, ‘Candy Rain’ with artist Kojey Radical, explaining to a love interest that he drove a “good girl” to drinking “tequila with no chaser”.

Mahalia taps rap behemoth Stormzy for a feature in the slow and steady love song ‘November’, noting that she wanted to highlight his singing chops, twisting expectations by collaborating with him on a “wedding song”. Chart-topper Raye co-wrote the album’s echoing opener, ‘Ready’, working with Mahalia to pen the staggering lyrics, “Trying to stay stable is hard when I’m trying to keep my seat at the table” and the straight-forward acknowledgement, “Listening to my own voice only”.

In ‘IRL’s title track, Mahalia sings “I just want to see in real life what it is when I close my eyes”. It’s been over a decade since she first signed a major label deal at just 13 years old, not quite knowing which direction her voice would take her, but if the 13 tracks that make up her latest release are any evidence, she’s finally making her dreams a reality “in real life”. ‘IRL’ reflects a young woman fully becoming herself, not just confidently throwing her hands up but boldly letting her guard down too.

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