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ALEIA
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Perth/Boorloo songwriter ALEIA has unveiled her debut EP ‘Public Humiliation’, a body of work that captures the bittersweet aftermath of love with rare honesty and grace. Layering delicate folk textures with dream-pop ambience, ALEIA reflects on the messiness of heartbreak and the hardening that comes from being so exposed.
It was just this May that ALEIA made her debut, introducing her unmistakable voice through a series of deeply personal singles that have quickly shown the depth of her songwriting. Her first release, ‘Had Your Fun’, arrived as a haunting, indie/alt-pop number led by the piano that peeled back the layers of post-breakup denial and self-deception.
It was followed by ‘Pretty When I Cry’, a gut-wrenching ballad built on soft guitar, sparse percussion, flourishes of delicate electric guitar and layers of harmonies, capturing the desperation of loving someone who cannot meet you halfway.
Then came ‘Public Humiliation’, the title track released in October, exposing the messy and often humiliating side of modern love. Built on a ghostly guitar and layered vocals, the track unfolds like a confession, delicate yet deliberate.
These songs form the opening half of the EP, leading into the devastatingly tender ‘Holy Water’ and its raw accompanying live version. Like it was recorded in an empty cathedral, the spacious arrangement features warm piano, softly bowed strings, carefully layered guitars, and a haunting choir that surrounds ALEIA in aching harmony. The choir's body percussion anchors the song’s slow build, giving the track a heartbeat as the lingering lyrics, "Holy Water, Devil's mouth, you could only spit me out", are chanted to close the EP out.
Across its five tracks, ALEIA lays bare the fragile balance between love and self-worth, confronting the humiliation that lingers beneath heartache and the grief that comes with it all. ALEIA shares:
"‘Public Humiliation’ is an EP I wrote after being jaded with love. I was newly single with my frontal lobe fully developed and realising I had only experienced toxic long-term relationships, painful situationships, and a nightmarish uncommitted life of casual dating. I want people to find comfort in this album the next time they find themselves anxiously attached to a situationship who isn’t messaging them, after a breakup with a narcissistic ex, or when single life has turned sour."
An EP made to accompany those late-night hours of loneliness, ‘Public Humiliation’ (produced by Dylan Ollivierre) is a record of heartbreak and healing. It belongs to the long drive home after everything has fallen apart, shattering yet strangely soothing. Decorated by ALEIA's intimate voice, shy guitar and bedroom-folk softness, what emerges is an unflinching debut that turns emotional wreckage into a place of shared vulnerability.
ALEIA’s debut EP ‘Public Humiliation’ is out now.
