Shay Lia - Solaris '2020

Tracks list

When Shay Lia made her annual family visit to the Ivory Coast for Christmas
2019, the Montreal singer had already begun planning the follow-up to her first
release from earlier that year, Dangerous. At the time, Lia was working on demos
that were rooted in the cool, clubby future-soul sound that she had first
cultivated through her collaborations with super-producer KAYTRANADA and further
refined on her Polaris Prize-longlisted debut. But when her vacation ended, she
opted to use her next project to musically extend it. “It was so sunny
there in Abidjan,” Lia tells Apple Music, “and I was listening to
Beyoncés Lion King and a lot of Afrobeats and reggae music—it was
really hard for me to focus on the prior vibe.” So upon returning home,
she connected with a team of producers—including Haitian DJ Michael Brun
and rising Nigerian beatmakers SESS and Phantom—who would add tropical
flavor to her sweet R&B melodies, whether that meant teeing up a rocksteady
rhythm with a sample of Junior Senior’s 2002 brass-blasted bop
“Move Your Feet” (“Irrational”) or dropping her into the
middle of a Lagos discotheque (“High Up”). And as COVID-19 began to
force everyone indoors in early 2020, Lia’s mission to make breezy, sunny
jams became all the more necessary. As she explains, “I really tried to
translate all the things that I felt when I was in Abidjan with my family by the
beach, living my best life. If you live in a sunny place, then this is the
perfect soundtrack for it, and if you dont, then the sound can be your sun.
Thats why its called Solaris—its music of the sun. Its all about
warmth.” Here, Lia invites you to strap on your shades for a
track-by-track survey of Solaris’ radiant R&B.

Irrational
“We were in New York City with Michael Brun and the cowriter, Modesty
Lycan, and when Michael played this beat, I went crazy—I knew itd be a
major hit right away, especially with that sample. I would have never thought
that I would sing to a beat like that. But then I came up with the melodies, and
when it was time to write the lyrics, it was just so much fun being in the
studio with them that I didnt want to go for something that would be too dark or
sad. Its a very playful song—its about that irrational phase when youre
in love and its kind of toxic but we like it...until we dont!”

Mais Oui
“The beat is definitely baile funk/Brazilian pop. For this one, again, I
wanted to do something completely different. Its very theatrical to
me—every time I listen to it, I feel like Im onstage with an army of
dancers and its very extra. Mais Oui is about reputation, its about being
confident and preserving your positive vibes and telling that bad person to
leave you alone.”

High Up
“I wrote these songs during quarantine, and for most of them, I didnt want
to make any reference to that. But with High Up, I really wanted to start with
that idea, because I was very anxious, and I still am sometimes. So I wanted the
music to be the soundtrack of two people that need to escape the world. This was
produced by Phantom from Nigeria, and its 100 percent Afrobeats. I really wanted
to do a song like that, because its also a different vibe for me, but the
melodies are R&B for most of my songs, so I feel like theres a signature there.
On this one, I feel like Im by the beach, feeling like a goddess. This one is
more sexual and sensual than the other songs—I picture two beautiful
black bodies having sex, but in a very poetic way.”

All Up to You
“Lyrically, this is the one that is the most linked to our current
situation, so I needed for the lyrics to be extra positive. Words have power,
and when we go on tour and sing all these songs every night, I think they truly
have an impact on our brains. So I always like having a song or two thats like a
positive affirmation. I do it for myself first, because I need it, and singing
it makes me believe in all these things. So theres a lot of harmonies, and it
has that anthemic vibe that I was looking for. If I was onstage, I would invite
everyody to sing it with me.”

Love Me, Love Me Not
“This one is a real nice blend between the R&B melodies that kind of even
sound like Rock the Boat from Aaliyah—very airy, very
feminine—with this kind of Latin groove that I love. Most of the time,
when it comes to these songs about being ‘alone in the friend
zone,’ its always guys who sing or rap about it. And I was like,
‘Why not do it from a female perspective, but also be super sexy doing it
and not be too sad?’ I feel like its quite empowering for women,
especially if youre considered attractive, to just say it. Vulnerability is a
strength.”

Tracklisting:
01. Shay Lia - Irrational (2:49)
02. Shay Lia - Mais Oui (2:27)
03. Shay Lia - High Up (3:01)
04. Shay Lia - All Up To You (3:08)
05. Shay Lia - Love Me, Love Me Not (3:17)

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