U.K. Singer Mahalia Turned Drunk Dialling Into A Perfect Throwback R&B Tune

Mahalia is an 18-year-old singer-songwriter from Leicester, a city in the middle of the U.K., who was raised on Erykah Badu and the Fugees. Those influences are plain to hear in her debut single, "Sober," where a chilled boom-bap beat (courtesy of Maths Time Joy) rides underneath her biting message to an ex.

“I don't drink a lot, but when I do, I get all up in my feelings," Mahalia explained to The FADER on email. "I'm one of those muppets who has a drink and lays everything out on the table in a messy text or call...Not one of my best qualities. But I wanted to write about it. I've been in a couple relationships where I just felt like I was so blinded by love, I couldn't see what they were doing to me. Alcohol is the one thing that always brought my emotions to the surface. 'Sober' is about the wake-up. The realisation. That moment when you finally understand that it was all bullshit." Listen below.