14-year old Canadian singer/songwriter, Mikalyn Hay, releases her new single, “Save Yourself” on all digital platforms worldwide. If flow’s the aim, call this track a bullseye. The song, a slinky, cool and surreal tune ushers the singer into a crowded rooftop party of singing divas.

By colliding competing percussion elements with slow oscillating hints of synth, Mikalyn constructs her very own theme park ride that can accelerate at a moment’s notice, stop without warning and turn on a dime.

The subject is bleak – the ending of a relationship that is not going anywhere – but it sounds so, so pleasant, you’ll never be so happy to have been dragged through a faltering relationship’s gauntlet.

The clever thing is, Mikalyn Hay could have cut her powerful voice loose and let it soar, but she smartly leaves it mostly tethered to the song’s core instead. Still, it pierces through the soundscape’s temperate space like a sharpened arrow.

The song gently but dejectedly chronicles love gone wrong and, in the most complimentary way starts to lift itself from the embers with the inspiring message that, “You’ve got to let it go. You’ve got to save yourself”. Somewhat sultry, Mikalyn’s sound is ultimately so familiar yet so distinctly hers.  The delicacy and poignancy of her vocals is the perfect complement to the music’s texture and tone.

This young lady can do absolutely no wrong in my book. When you listen to the track, let your mind strip away the music and listen to how she interprets the lyrics. Apart from her killer voice, when she sings she is very soulful and connects to the song and you can feel that.

Bear in mind that she is fourteen years old! Some singers spend two lifetimes to connect to their songs, others never ever do. Moreover Mikalyn Hay has this twisted little ethereal edge that makes her much more mysterious than many of the other female pop artists doing the Top40 rounds, which adds a fine layer of needed emotional complexity to her performances.

It’s hard to describe – it’s not her lyrics as much as the subtle nuance choices she makes when she sings.

Mikalyn Hay definitely has an ear for a pop song, as she wrote “Save Yourself” in collaboration with Tyler Simmons and Murray Daigle. She thoroughly deserves every success that will surely be coming her way. I am sure Mikalyn will be around in our pop landscape for much more than just the foreseeable future.

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