Akira Galaxy

In the songs on Los Angeles singer-songwriter Akira Galaxy’s debut EP What’s Inside You, pure and unfiltered emotional connection is everything. In their romantic vortexes, nothing seems to be in question, and consummate mutual understanding feels possible. Eventually, though, difficult moments throw deeper truths into relief, exposing the ways in which the narrators have been misled. Akira writes soulful and atmospheric alternative pop songs about being lost in these kinds of states, inserting bittersweet or acidic asides.

Born Akira Galaxy Ament, the 23-year-old singer cut her teeth as a musician while fronting high school bands in Seattle, having been steeped in eclectic music by her family since she was a toddler. In her songwriting and performance, she combines the grit and attitude of the alt-rock of her hometown—where she often retreats to write—with a sleeker, more transatlantic aesthetic.

Aided by producers Chris Coady (Beach House, TV On the Radio, The Kills) and Sam Westhoff, the songs on the EP blend rock ’n’ roll edge with synth gestures reminiscent of ’80s dream pop. Akira’s smoky vocals feel intimate and otherworldly at the same time, mirroring the moments in her songs when the real and the imagined seem to fold together and become inextricable.

The yearning strummer “Virtual Eyes,” in particular, evokes this feeling of lost perspective. Inspired by a love affair that progressed entirely remotely, it explores—as Akira puts it—“Falling in love while the world stood still” before “going back to real life and realizing that the moment was built on fantasy.” In the song’s final refrain, it’s hard not to get swept up in that craving for human connection, even if it ultimately proves to be a coping mechanism: “I want your impossible devotion / So look me in my virtual eyes.”