Los Angeles based singer, Laica, is one to watch. Armed with a jaw dropping pen —that only knows honest lyrics — and raw vocals, the 21-year-old singer-songwriter continues to surpass expectations. Through her debut album, she showcases artistic growth and a bag of talent tricks that runs deep. She has grown from uploading music covers on YouTube to a confident singer who is ready to take the Pop scene by storm. On the 11-track project, Laica sings about overcoming stereotypes, socioeconomic struggles, mental health, understanding loneliness, and addresses other issues from a candid and personal perspective.
While her 2020 EP, Forever, explored highly romanticized feelings accompanying early love, her debut LP is a display of maturity, confusion, and the dark process of becoming an adult in modern times. Out via Dreams Never Die Records, i’m so fine at being lonely is packed with lyrics that warrant endless replays not just because of the singer’s sensational voice, but also the reflective and deep meanings behind her words.
Speaking on the project, Laica says, "I think it’s absolutely okay to be alone and choose yourself before others. Though extremely uncomfortable at first, I found my peace of mind from being completely isolated. I had a newfound desire to build myself and grow as a person that I could be proud of, without seeking validation from others." Created entirely alongside music producer, Cooper Leith, the new album is packed with glowing production, exciting harmonies, and thoughtful lyrics; it plays like a narrative front-to-back, and feels bound to resonate deeply. She tells EARMILK more about the project through the executive track by track breakdown below.
i’m so fine at being lonely
Everytime I meet up with friends, the same question is always brought up—”So how’s your love life?” or “Are you talking to anyone?” While it isn’t a horrible question, after being single for some time, it made me question why it was always repeated in every conversation I’d have catching up with friends. This song is inspired by that scenario that I’ve come across too many times and is also my anthem for spending time alone and learning to love being alone. Also, I looked horrible being in a toxic relationship so I’m celebrating looking good being able to focus on myself (laughs).
sanctuary
This is one of my favorite tracks. I wanted to make a song that seemed deep, but this song is as literal as it can get. This is Cooper and I’s introvert anthem. I loved making this song with the idea of coming home to my room after a long day or night, having a can of beer or a glass of wine, and having a dance party by myself and maybe even crying to this song or both.
love u lately
This song is inspired by a memorable date I went on. There was something clearly there, but it was a lot of push and pull and playing games. I hated the idea of not being upfront and just saying how you feel but I understand the fear of creeping the other person out and your feelings being unreciprocated. If I truly like someone and they play games with me, I won’t see them the same way and cut them off. This song is almost like a warning to the person I’m interested in. This was also the first song we made during the quarantine.
losing feelings
An extremely personal song that had a “trash beat” demo I sent to Cooper. I think the song speaks for itself. It’s about infidelity occuring in a relationship and staying with the person that committed it, but struggling to get past that. When you get hurt by someone you love, it’s almost like the world ends. Because when you’re in love, they are your world. When that trust is lost, it takes a lot to return to what something once was. And even if it does, it’s never the same. The song is as raw as it can get and recording the vocal stacks took hours. Side note if you hear the emotion…it’s from recording while having period cramps.
twin flame
I love this interlude. This one’s my favorite track from this project. The voice memo is from a tarot reading. It was crazy ‘cause I remember telling Cooper how cool it would be if we had it in the project, and boom, it actually happened.
helping hand
Growing up, my mom made me do chores and would constantly tell me that if I didn’t know how to do the dishes, laundry, clean, and cook, I’d get left by my husband or never find anyone. After some time, I remember thinking “What if I don’t want a husband?” and “Uhhh do I look like Cinderella?”. After thinking of that, I remember watching the old Disney princess movies and disliked how they were portrayed to need saving. This song is like a polite fuck you to gender norms and misogynists. I love the switch up as well — I think it’s sexy.
20
This song is super random. I think entering my 20’s I had to learn, unlearn, and relearn so many things. It’s a time of discovery and I feel like I’m learning something new about myself every day. When I was a teenager, I thought being twenty years of age was old, but I slowly learned that it isn’t. To me, this time is when life’s tests and trials really begin. We grow up with societal expectations and are looked at differently when we choose a different path so I wanted to make fun of myself a little in this song to remind others that they’re not the only ones that don’t have their crap completely together.
out of touch
I wrote this song looking back at the times I forced myself to hangout with people I knew I had no connection with, and staying because of the fear of being alone or missing out. My younger sister going through the same experience in high school helped me finish this song. We did so many stacks on this song and I’ve personally simped to this song at least once or twice. It makes me happy to know that others connect to this song as well from the snippet I shared on TikTok.
childish
This song started out as one of my “trash beats” that I sent over to Cooper. Originally, it was hauntingly slow and inspired by Justin Timberlake. I don’t think you’d guess it from the way it sounds now but it sounds much better. I tried pushing myself on this project by writing on the spot in the studio but this was one of the few songs I made a demo at home for that I wanted to share.
good riddance, a new time
A very straight forward song. Can be viewed as a song that is sincere, a way of blowing off steam, or petty. My favorite line is “I’m not sad, call me plastic, yeah I’m glad.” I thought I was a genius for making a reference to the brand at the time. A little moment of triumph or whatnot, but I’m proud of how this song came out. The chorus is almost like a little chant that I can imagine being sung at a live show.
exit
This project was very personal and gives insight to who and how I am as a person, and I felt like it wouldn’t be complete without a little sprinkle of positivity and a singing bowl. I first got into spirituality through being inspired by Jhené Aiko and was excited to be able to incorporate one of my singing bowls into an outro song just like one of my favorite artists did. This song’s melodies were sung on the spot and we just went with the flow. I played the singing bowl in this one (laughs).
