Pearla Finds ‘Somewhere’ in Explosive Pop Debut [Stream]

A glance of the Manhattan skyline can conjure up feelings of immense hope: upon the Hudson, the city lights and skyscrapers sit like sparkling watercolors, rocked gently by inviting waves. 

But there comes a moment in every New Yorker’s voyage when the big apple begins to lose its sheen. The day-to-day realities of living begin to exude an inert pull, like an endless subway ride buoyed only by the sight of exorbitant price tags – $5 coffee, overwhelming fatigue, this month’s rent – that cloy at your being. As the blaring sounds and picturesque skyline shine on, and a feeling of distance begins to set in,  you have to ask yourself a question about that dream, the one sitting in your periphery, flickering like a ghost.

Is it worth it?

This is the central question of “Somewhere,” the pop chimera unleashed last Friday by fellow city dweller, Pearla (Nicole Rodriguez). Over a glittering music box and with an intimate vocal similar to that of Maggie Rogers, Pearla compares her journey to that of a ship “thrown from wave to wave at the moon’s discretion.” Each verse laments a loss of control over the childlike hope needed to propel ourselves into a future of our own making.

But just as this anxiety winds up, Pearla hints that there is possibility beyond even her sights. The chorus unfurls like a breath of fresh air; Pearla’s wail fortifies into walls of harmony and the song itself begins to show cracks in the gloom. Finally, “Somewhere” hits its apex: a swirling, bass-heavy release that highlights Pearla’s rock vocal with a might that would make Radiohead blush.

“Somewhere” is a delightful explosion that deserves repeat listens–a piece that strives to find the beauty in everyday life, and ultimately succeeds. The single follows Pearla’s lush debut EP, If You’re Not Alright Now, and marks her first collaboration with producer Jon Buscema (of KNGDAVD). Enter “Somewhere” above, and prepare for new music from this starlet in 2018.