SINGLE REVIEW: Mia Vel – Pretend

‘Pretend’ isn’t just a debut song. It’s an artistic statement worth of commendation and exploration, a fascinating piece of music put together by an artist in every sense of the word

Ask anyone who writes about music, and they’ll tell you they’re already working on their end of year lists. It’s exciting, and we all follow our own little rules; for me, only one entry per artist is a staple. But that’s a rule that I may have to bend this year.

Back in July, Girl Group dropped their fantastic debut track ‘Life is Dumb’, and it has proven to find itself on rotation again and again; it’s an unfathomably catchy post-punk banger with some real sardonic wit that acts as a fascinating and multifaceted commentary on being a young femme individual. Already, this was a strong contender for being high up on my list of best songs this year.

This month, however, has seen the release of vocalist Mia Vel’s debut single, ‘Pretend’. A far cry from the hedonistic celebration of femininity and youth that ‘Life is Dumb’ was, ‘Pretend’ is an eerie, haunting picture of unrequited love and an inability to move on.

Solemn electronics softly fizzle away beneath gentle chimes and a steady percussive beat that marches forwards like clockwork. Moments of silence in the instrumentation punctuate the track, allowing Vel to take centre stage. It’s composed in a way that showcases Vel’s stunning understanding of space between the layers of sound; it’s paradoxically intensely claustrophobic, yet expansive, hollow, and sprawling. 

Vel’s vocals are utterly sublime, with a delivery that softly swings between a coy melancholy and a pained yearning, her soft Norwegian lilt soaked with vocal effects and vague dissonance before launching into serene yet soaring harmonies that are soul piercing to listen to. It’s all a little unsettling, and genuinely magnificent to behold; almost as if you’re listening to some beguiling lost musical artefact of a songstress from days gone by. 

‘Pretend’ isn’t just a debut song. It’s an artistic statement worth of commendation and exploration, a fascinating piece of music put together by an artist in every sense of the word. It‘s hard to imagine a compilation of the best material of 2023 without accounting for both of Vel’s projects; it’s music worth bending the rules for.

This isn’t just a recommendation. This is me telling you that you need to listen to ‘Pretend’. 

For Fans Of: Fever Ray, Björk, Fiona Apple

Featured photo credit belongs to @selmamossefin.

Follow the artist on social media via the links below:

Instagram // Spotify