The artist bares her soul on a rollercoaster journey through the different stages of a faltering relationship and breakup
Miami-born singer-songwriter Alexa Lash is an artist with a sound that feels steeped in authenticity and a very real, lived-in charm and earnest nature. This sense of heart and emotion is captured perfectly within her sophomore EP Heartbreak in Movements, a collection of tracks that is just as soul-bearing and heartfelt as you would imagine.
The release opens up with ‘Not Fine’, an instantly emotionally charged track that really sets the tone for the album. The track finds the artist in the aftermath of a breakup and explores the feelings that come with it in the most raw and affecting fashion. The brutally resonating chorus of “I’m not fine, I’m just playing pretend. I don’t want to disappoint you while I’m losing myself again.” perfectly encapsulates a situation that so many have found themselves in, and the disappointment and mental health struggles that can come with such a situation.
Toxic relationships are explored on ‘Weak’ and the way that we can often feel conditioned to believe that these situations are normal. The way that the piano, strings and Alexa’s voice come together on these tracks is spellbinding, adding extra stakes and gravity to her already immersive and powerful narratives. Once this track kicks into to its empowering and cathartic climax, it makes for a really rousing story of self-discovery as the rose-tinted glasses start to fade, offering the artist with a chance to move forward and finally come away from the shackles that she has grown so accustomed to wearing. The repeated refrain of “No, no, no” at the end makes for a really gripping and powerful moment.
Despite this breakthrough, the artist is still battling with toxicity and denial on the third track, ‘Miracle’, a livelier and more expansive release that allows Alexa to show off the range of her vocals that makes for some really engaging and fun moments. This nuance however is not enough to mask to more grim realities of the lyrics, focused around a toxic relationship that is being held together by the delusion and denial of the realities of it. The defiance of the artist’s vocals mixed with the doomed nature of the relationship and pained lyrics makes for an interesting contrast, but one of someone ultimately fighting too hard for something salvageable.
Following that track, a breakup anthem felt inevitable, and is swiftly provided with the release of ‘Let Her Go’. This is the story of someone re-discovering their independence and going through a period of personal growth, articulated wonderfully through the lyrics and the all-encompassing, powerful nature of Alexa’s vocals. The track is a turning point on the EP, like the first true moment of clarity and one that feels richly deserved and satisfying.
‘MIA’ finds the relationship firmly in the rear-view mirror, with the artist looking back on it long since its end with a lens of nostalgia. The track showcases the artist at her most confident, seemingly revitalised having been through what she has and come out of the other side. There is no real sense of bitterness or malice in the track, with a feeling of acceptance and calm that that permeates through its narrative, providing a lush ending to an EP that is packed full of moments of hardship and strife.
To call Heartbreak in Movements a journey is something of an understatement. The EP pins down the different stages and emotions that are felt within a difficult breakup and articulates them with a harrowingly real and resonating honesty, sure to evoke memories of times that listeners have been through the same things or experienced the same pain and rebuilding. It is a collection of tracks that really highlights the charm and relatability that Alexa Lash possesses as an artist, able to take a universally lived experience and bring it to life in such a powerful way. The narrative is immersive and poignant, the melodies and the way that the instrumentation amplifies the message is inspired, and Alexa’s personality and the heart that she pours into these tracks resonates through every moment.
