Mahalia releases her first record as an independent artist, drawing on the relationship breakdown and the move to LA to explore the messy process of letting go.
Mahalia is looking at two 5 stages of heartbreak‘departures: the end of a four and a half year relationship and life as a record label artist. After 14 years as a self declared ‘label baby’ she is embarking on an independent phase with a song which is about realising what’s already gone.
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance form the framework but the writing doesn’t quite make it through those in a straightforward manner. Mahalia is thinking about grieving a relationship before it’s actually over and then dealing with the contradictory feelings that come with the aftermath of the separation. The video that goes with it looks at those five stages through the lens of the song’s story.
The song is at the heart of her next album and has been in part shaped by the conversations she’s had in therapy. It’s about the messiness of recovery: the way emotions can overlap, the uncomfortable realisations that can come up and the fact that recovery doesn’t necessarily follow a straight line.
Mahalia says:
This feels like a debut in so many ways because it’s my first record as an independent artist. But, I also feel so seasoned in my craft now. After 14 years writing, making and releasing music, I can confidently say that this is my proudest moment.
That’s the trajectory of the last year really, a year of shifting friendships, heartbreak and professional upheaval. After a stint in Kingston Jamaica making her Luvergirl EP for 2025, Mahalia moved to LA. The new sense of community and the much greater creative freedom in LA proved instrumental in the creation of the next body of work.
Her recent joint work has spanned a number of musical worlds with Honey Dijon’s The Rush, Isaiah Falls’ HONEYBUTTER and Kofi Stone’s Sicily. On her own upcoming album though the focus is on what she wants to say and she’s in complete control of the creative process.