Nashville alt-pop singer-songwriter who self-produces her own songs and is a rising star in the music industry, Xoë Miles, returns to music with her debut album ‘Who I Was Before‘.
In the months up to her debut release, Xoë teased her fans with tracks ‘Somebody’s Somebody‘ and ‘I Said It‘, and sharing these songs indicated how she would be exploring themes of healing from a toxic relationship and learning to value herself rather than someone else.
While it is a debut album describing moving on from a breakup, it still translates into a positive and hopeful feeling, where Xoë conveys the message in tracks ‘Say So‘ and ‘Tears I Cry‘ that you deserve better than people who have done you wrong and you need that inner power and gift in yourself to see you need more than what a previous relationship was giving you. Not only the honest lyrics, which give an insight into the hopeful theme in her debut album, but the way the music sounds: while it is not an energetic uptempo sound, the album is filled with synth alternative pop tracks which are laidback but still give that positive atmosphere; starting a slow pop melody and then transforms into a midtempo upbeat chorus which elevates the empowered feeling inside her tracks.
While writing her raw and honest creative lyrics, it is also inspiring to hear an independent artist self-producing her own debut album, crafting her signature alt-pop sound in fourteen gut-wrenching tracks.
It is a relatable debut album which anyone can resonate with, especially those who have experienced a painful breakup and go on a journey to self-accepting that they need to move on, find that self-love and transition into something better. From songs such as ‘Ghost Of You‘ and ‘Friends‘, Xoë learns to accept that her previous relationship is over and needs to find the strength to move on and heal, it is a hard-hitting and upbeat album teaching a valuable lesson to her listeners that if something isn’t working out for you, then you need to go in your own direction and make your own path. “So if this is the end,/Can we agree not to be friends?/There’s just some things that my heart can’t handle, like watchin’ you let go and/Find someone else got to look out for myself.”
Why not listen to ‘Who I Was Before‘ now?