I slumped off the dirt-covered bus steps one afternoon on my venture home from school. 

The obnoxiously loud yellow bus was soon heard bustling down the road to its next stop. Once being blanketed in silence, I dragged each foot in front of the other robotically.

Left. Right. Left. Right.

My brain was stripped from the grueling school day. The energy that once filled my body seemed to be drained before I hit my front door. With seven hours still remaining in my day, I found myself craving isolation.

Like many other teenagers, I tried to tune out the world with music. I placed my earbuds in and neglected my life around me. I pressed play on Sonia’s new EP—a suggestion from Spotify—and hit pause on everything around me.

Joyride is the first song that echoed out. I began gravitating towards the guitar-heavy beat; I then heard Sonia come in with an airy, angelic scale. This song revealed Sonia’s darker side—one with demons and regret.

My earbuds were soon filled with silence as I anticipated the next song. With Joyride carrying so much emotion, I was thirsty for what else her EP had offered.

“Why you always wanna play games with my mind? For no reason? Tell me why you wanna take me up so high? Then leave me sinking.”

In her second track on the EP, Games, Sonia utilizes more upbeat and pop sounds to contrast the darker lyrics in the song. She travels into her past heartbreak and explores her personal growth. Games is a perfect feel-good breakup song for any love-stricken teen looking for guidance.

“I’m attracted to the things that break me. I was damaged by the flame, so why do I still play with fire?”

I Don’t Know is all about unhealthy relationships. Sonia expresses the struggles of feeling helpless when being caught up in a toxic person. She voices her concerns about contrasting feelings and not knowing whether her relationship is built on love. 

“You don’t gotta make it difficult. He said I’m trying; I told him try harder.”

As the fourth and final song, Dark History wraps up the EP. It represents the point of realization in a faulting relationship. Sonia preaches about her new self-worth and expectations. She reveals the not-so-pretty things in her life during her last song.

Sonia is new this year to the music world; however, that does not mean her songs have an amateur sound. She has a talent for writing down her feelings and expressing them in music. Because of this, her lyrical work serves to empower women.

Sonia, with the use of her voice and lyrics, managed to transport me to another world: a world filled with insight and self-reflection. Listening to someone being so vulnerable and transparent about their issues allows me to become truly invested in the music.

Sonia’s new EP gave me the much-needed break I craved after an ardous day.