No one ever says that the hard work comes after the breakup. Either you’re trying to make the split stick and fighting off the temptation to check in on them, or you’re trying to move on from getting dumped and finding your peace without blowing up their DMS. This struggle is at the heart of Ashlynn Malia‘s new hauntingly beautiful song, “Coordinates.” In the track premiering here on HollywoodLife, the rising music talent sings about the pain of still being in despair over a parting. “I’m such an idiot, i’m pathetic / thought I was moving on,” she sings. After singing how much she “want(s) you,” she offers to “send a telepathic message with my coordinates to you.”
There’s an honest vulnerability to the track, about how Ashlynn longs for someone she knows she can’t have. It also demonstrates how Ashlynn, at just 20-years-old, has a maturity and perspective beyond her years. “Coordinates” shows how she can transform a feeling into an experience that can resonate with just about anyone.
“I wrote ‘Coordinates’ when I was missing someone. That was honestly the only thing I had in my head,” she shares with HollywoodLife. “Just the phrase ‘I miss you’ over and over. I knew better than to reach out, so I put the words here instead.”
“Coordinates” marks her first release since her 2021 ep, rather be alone. Over the past few months, things have been busy for the young talent. “I’ve thrown out the words’ good’ and “bad” for the time being,” she says when asked to describe the first part of 2022 in an EXCLUSIVE interview for Hollywoodlife. “I’m just making things. No judgment or labels. It feels so good.”
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“‘ Coordinates’ was one of those songs that just kinda flowed out of me. It felt like writing a journal entry,” she says. “I was going through my day, writing a line here or there, and by the end of the day, the song was finished. It was very cathartic – like I was giving all the love I wanted to pour into someone a safer place to live.
“I brought the song to my producers, and I think all of us felt a connection to it,” continues Ashlynn. “We wanted to keep the production somewhat stripped so that the lyrics had the spotlight. Recording the vocals was a really beautiful experience. We turned all the lights out in the studio, and I just sang the song all the way through over and over again. We really just felt our way through the entire production process. If a layer made us feel something, we kept it. If it didn’t, it was unnecessary.”
Ashlynn also delved into the “super chill” process in filming the song’s lyric video. “The whole thing was filmed on VHS to match the song’s nostalgia. It’s a pretty literal interpretation of the lyrics in verse 2, ‘I’m swimming laps across our memories’ and ‘watching reruns of our story while I’m luring on my back,'” she says.
When asked how living and working in Los Angeles has impacted her new batch of work, Ashlynn explains that the City of Angels has provided plenty of opportunities for growth. “Living in LA means I am surrounded by very talented people all the time, so I guess mostly, it influences the quality of the music I make,” she shares. “My producers, for example, are so good at what they do, and they have a lot of knowledge and experience in areas of music-making that I don’t have yet. The fact that all of us come from different backgrounds enriches the process.”
While “coordinates” is about the past and she’s presently based in LA, what does the future hold for Ashlynn? Touring, perhaps? “Oh god, I hope so,” she says at the idea of hitting the road. “As far as what this year looks like for me, I have no idea. I’m just surrendering to where life takes me. I’m feeling very connected and in love with music, and I’m letting that be my guiding force through this year. Taking things moment by moment and drinking up all the inspiration I can. So I guess let’s check back in when it’s over.”