Neon Angel is out now!
Image: Michael Smits.
Multidisciplinary alt-RnB artist Meyy recently unveiled her sophomore EP, Neon Angel. We caught up with the singer to chat about the release and so much more!
Could you tell us a bit about your background in music and what led you to pursuing a career in music?
There wasn’t really a moment when it started. I’ve been singing and making up melodies in my head for as long as I can remember, it was just always there. I started writing the melodies I came up with into little songs with my guitar or piano when I was 11. This just naturally grew into writing songs over youtube-type beats and then getting to know producers in Brussels.
Congratulations on the release of your new EP Neon Angel. Walk us through the concepts explored across the release…
Thank you so much! Neon Angel is a celebration of love and all of its contours. It’s also a manifest for my emotions and accommodated imagination. To me, this project sounds like underwater flowers moving. That visualization covers the fragility and yet wavy texture of this EP. I'm intrigued by the surreal power that music can have. One form of auditive input can set off so many dimensions like the physical, emotional, personal and memorial. I hope it makes you feel the radiance you have within yourself and that you can enjoy the beauty of it. I want my music to take your mind to places. I'm intrigued by the surreal power that music can have. I wish my music allows you to transcend the reality we live in every day, even if it’s in a very small and subtle way and that it radiates colors, emotions, desires, and dreams but above all: I hope it beams angelic neon lights.
How did you arrive at the alt-RnB dreamlike and atmospheric sonics present on the EP?
Whenever I start making a song I immediately have colors, images, lights or sceneries in my head. I think this all finds its foundation in my vivid sense of imagination. Once I have the imagery, it’s easier to curate sounds or lyrics around that. And also by working with my amazingly gifted producers of course. I feel like their taste just added perfectly to the ethereal digital sound I envisioned but couldn’t literally embody (since I’m not as good of a producer as they are). They understood the direction I wanted to go in soundwise, and lifted that aesthetic to an even higher level.
Could you tell us a bit about your creative process when writing and recording this particular collection of songs?
It started out as a succession of dreams in my head and we turned it into a compilation of songs that beautifully reflect the dreamlike state I enter when making or listening to music. It reflects different dimensions of my world but they all blend in perfectly through the soundscape I created together with my producers. It’s a delicate project that I curated carefully and the songs were made in the intimate setting of my bedroom.
How did the EP evolve and change as you were creating it, and were there any tracks left on the cutting room floor that you think might have a life in the future?
I wrote hyli and orchids over a year ago and I love the way these tracks grew into the microverses they are (once again crediting the producers here who were able to follow the dreams in my head). We didn’t sit down one day and decided to start making an EP, it was more a kind of organic process and we assembled our 4 favorite tracks of that period. You’ll also never catch me “ditching” a song. I work on all my tracks whenever I feel like it and we’ll see which ones we’ll want to share with the world at some point.
How do you think your move to London influenced and shaped the direction you’ve taken as an artist?
I can really feel the thrust the creative/music scene and London in general have and it’s so powerful. I feel myself explicitly growing as an artist every day and it’s the best thing ever. But I can also imagine that the fast pace and higher intensity of life can maybe make you a bit blunt if you don’t watch out and that aspect is totally new for me. Maybe looking back on it I lost myself for a little bit in the “chase”. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been actively coming back to myself mentally and reminding myself to the root of my music. What I do it for. To not lose track of what is really important: the music. Or more specifically: the cleansing realm that making music holds for me.
Which song from Neon Angel would you play to someone, who had never heard your music, to make them an instant fan?
I don’t really make music with that intent so I have no idea. I don’t think it is up for me to decide.
What’s one line from the EP you find at times can be stuck in your head? Or a line that you come back to?
“I could give you orchids in the form of kisses”
If Neon Angel was a piece of pre-existing visual art, which artwork would it be?
Henri Matisse – Blue Nude series
Do you have any live performance plans for the near future? And what does one of your live shows look like? Hopefully we’ll catch you on Australian stages in the future!
I’m building my first headline show and we are announcing some dates soon! Ultimately I’d love my live shows to be a mutli-dimensional experience. Visuals, dance, lights, props, … A live translation of Neon Angels’ aesthetic. Carefully curated, minimal ,digital and ethereal – all of this in a show. I can’t wait!
RAPID FIRE
Biggest influences?
FKA Twigs / James Blake / Rosalia / The Weeknd / Kanye West
Dream collaboration?
FKA Twigs / James Blake / Rosalia / The Weeknd / Kanye West
Album that has had the most impact on you?
Rosalia - Los Angeles
How do you define your musical style in 3 words?
Lush, ethereal, digital
Best song of 2021 so far?
Kanye West - Hurricane
If you could create the soundtrack for any film, which one would it be?
Scarface
What was the first song you loved to sing?
Honestly can’t remember
A song you would love to cover on tour?
Rihanna - Please Don’t Stop The Music
Album you would listen to on repeat on a road trip?
Amaarae – The Angel You Don’t Know
First concert you went to?
Justin Bieber </3
Best concert you have been to?
Caroline Polacheck
First album you ever bought?
Never bought an album #millenialbaby
Most memorable show you’ve ever performed?
Esperanzah Festival
If you could support any artist on tour, who would it be?
FKA Twigs
An artist you think has had the most influence on the music industry.
Sooooo many
What advice would your current self, give your future self, for a year from now?
Don’t lose track of the essence
The moment you knew you wanted to be a musician?
Birth I guess haha
Neon Angel is out now!