Rising star Macie Nyah kicks off a new era with introspective single ‘Alien’ as she revels in the fight for belonging.
The singer’s first release of 2024 begins a series of four singles this year that sees the songwriter’s bubbly pop sound break new ground. Citing Anne-Marie, GRACEY and Dylan as influences, Nyah is still ready to serve up pop bops, but now with an added edge.
“This body of music feels like such a level up from anything I’ve done before,” she tells CelebMix. “I wanted to take feelings from a certain time of my life that I don’t feel anymore and use them to provide comfort for me and for other people.”
The first of those tracks comes today with ‘Alien’, which came about on a songwriting camp to Yorkshire last year. “It was the most wholesome few days,” the singer remembers. “It was in an Airbnb with every floor having a studio. I wrote Alien on my second session.
“We wrote this in the games room of the house with the rolling rooms through the window. We just went for it. The chorus we were stuck on for such a long time. Halfway through the session, I thought, why don’t we just scream it and it just stuck and it just hit.”
‘Alien’ sees Nyah embrace being different on a determined ditty that sits somewhere between the noughties pop of The Veronicas and the catchy modern hooks of Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter.
The singer began to hone her sound at college in Norwich and moved from a musical theatre background into the pop world. For those discovering Macie Nyah for the first time on ‘Alien’, the songwriter points newcomers to ‘Alone Forever’ as where to head next.
“I was so excited for that release,” she says. “I love that one, it gives me such great vibes. The title sounds depressing but it’s a bop!”
Other gems on Nyah’s discography include ‘With A Ghost’ and ‘Bridget Jones’. The former tracks an experience of being ghosted by a girl after a limoncello-fuelled holiday in Italy. Explaining the latter, she says, “Bridget Jones is one of my favourite films of all time. I love Bridget Jones as a character and I think what she does for women is really great.
“I was young when it came out so to watch that growing up in a time when women are portrayed to be very different in magazines and online… I love it so much.”
‘Alien’ by Macie Nyah is streaming now – let us know @CelebMix on X.