Egyptian-born, London-based singer, Layal, is a hard one to pin down. His debut release, 2020’s ‘The Sun and the Moon’, was a sunny slice of reggae. Her second release? The liquid drum and bass banger, ‘Roots of Desire’.
Since then she’s dabbled with varying elements of pop, soul and ethno-jazz to create unique sounds in tracks such as ‘No Good for Me’ and ‘Escape’, but her latest single, ‘For the Love of the Cool’, sits somewhere between bedroom pop, funk and R&B.Sonically, it’s a hopeful, light-hearted and all round positive track, thanks to a combination of funky guitar riffs, groovy acoustic drums and mellow synth bass. Lyrically, it bears the hallmarks of a Layal track - personal, introspective and reflective of her own experiences. In this case, looking back at a difficult year for all, she ponders the idea of moving to another planet to find her own personal utopia. One thing of major note is that she weaves in Arabic lyrics, proclaiming "Salam w aman w rahet el bal" - ‘peace’, ‘safety’ and ‘peace of mind’. Doesn’t that sound like a lovely place to be?
