Laya Drops New EP 'Um, Hello'

Today, Staten Island songstress LAYA releases the heady Um, Hello, her debut EP on Warner Records. The 11-track set shows off the R&B singer, songwriter, and creator's versatility as she balances airy melodies with hefty beats, explores nostalgic sounds through a modern lens, and packs it all with plenty of sass and seduction to keep us firmly rooted in the present. The EP arrives alongside a virtual-reality-themed video for sultry bedroom groove "On Sight."

About the project, LAYA exclaimed, "Um, Hello! I need you to pick up the phone. My debut EP is too fire and it's out now!"

Um, Hello is both unapologetic and understated, a combination that highlights LAYA's hard-hitting yet honeyed appeal. Each song on the reissue is built around minimalist yet booming production that seems to invite the listener into another dimension. LAYA's voice helps guide us through this ethereal, reverb-soaked soundscape, whether she's dishing out a scathing diss-"I know you hate me bitch, you bitter" on the bounce-heavy "Bitter"-or turning up the heat with a cool come-on on hypnotic, trip-hop-tinged jams like "Undress." At times, she sounds like a '90s R&B siren, luring us in with melismatic coos, even nodding to that decade on "Crazy Down," which interpolates Brandy and Missy Elliott. Elsewhere, LAYA flexes her power, celebrating her triumphs on the slinky "Brag" with drill star Fivio Foreign serving up equally boastful raps.

Throughout, a phone stands as a powerful symbol for connection. It rings on the fierce opener "Closed Case," clicks to voicemail at the end of "On Sight," and serves as the launchpad to LAYA's success on confident closer "Calling Me": "Watch me shoot off like a rocket, I'm coming in fast," she purrs. "Now it's my number that they dial." That phone-both represented as a new cell and an old rotary-also appears in the inventive video for "On Sight," in which LAYA invites an unassuming admirer back in time via virtual reality.

The reissue of Um, Hello is LAYA's first project since signing to Warner Records. LAYA was discovered after independently releasing her own music, which she co-produces and writes herself-on top of directing and editing her own visuals. Her December 2020 single, "Sailor Moon," another Um, Hello highlight, went viral on social media, and it has since earned LAYA hundreds of thousands of views and countless new fans.

With Warner behind her and singles like "On Sight" ready to impact, a breakout year is surely on the horizon for LAYA, as she continues to put her futuristic and entirely unique spin on nostalgic R&B.

Listen to the new EP here:

Watch the new music video here:

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