At this current moment in time, I am sitting alone on my bed with a single earbud in with one goal for my evening: to write as many articles as possible. I had an order of operations in mind as well: Write an article about Olga Myko, then one about ratking by bodyimage, then gamble on an editorial. Well, based on the title of this article you can take a stab in the dark and guess that all that was thrown out the window, as Myko is now above my arbitrary 100k cutoff despite how much I adore Aeons, and when I showed my fellow AuraLink partners ratking it was kindly suggested I finally cover something a little more… up beat.

So Far by UK based synth-pop musician Saila (pronounced Sai-La so you don’t look silly pretending you found this on your own) is the textbook example of more up beat, so at this moment the team is rejoicing. In fact, this upbeat, positivity packed sound is currently the Saila calling card across the entirety of her bright, dare I say kind hearted catalog of releases. So far is a gorgeous affirmation laid upon a bubblegum pop/jersey club inspired instrumental that pulses but does not punch. Despite the often very kicky sound of it’s structural inspiration this is a song that carefully and cleanly weaves analog synths, drums that are present but not overbearing, and so, so many vocal layers. Unlike what I usually pick apart in my posts though the production isn’t what I fixate on when hearing this song. That honour would be taken by the writing itself, which is such a stark departure from not only the often very dark or aggressive demeanour that populates probably too much of my playlists for my own wellbeing, but even how most songs approach positivity as a whole.

So Far isn’t a song about falling in love or a cute guy or something like that, it’s more like being told by a long term partner or extraordinarily close friend that despite what you think, you’ve absolutely got this. It’s encouraging, it’s words that I think a lot of people want or need to hear packed into an infectious song instead of an 11pm text or late night phone call. I think the best part about it is it feels real and natural. I would love to say that we generally need more music like this in our daily lives but so often it’s a vibe that comes across as inauthentic or forced, but not here. Saila has created something real and authentic that I genuinely believe a lot of people could benefit from listening to, and I’d be lying if I said the positivity wasn’t appreciated while trying to run AuraLink. Despite knowing the song isn’t an individualized message I think it’s easy to look past that and just remember that someones proud of you.

Now, I am definitely still going to go write about ratking after this, and it is going to completely go against all the self care and positivity this song preaches that I’m trying to emphasize, but do NOT let that undermine everything I’ve written here. Go put on this song and do something nice for yourself today, because you have come so far, and you absolutely deserve something nice ❤