The Rotorua musician’s first full-length album, Self Portrait Of A Woman Unravelling, is steeped in soulful songwriting and tethered to her innermost thoughts and truths.
Praise comes worldwide for singer-songwriter Alayna Powley, but it’s not strangers’ validation that matters most to her, but her own, and that of family and friends.
She tells the story of hanging out her washing in her parents’ Hamurana backyard, when next-door neighbour Michelle yelled over the fence, “I love your new song, Alayna”.
It’s a good memory for the 29-year-old, who approaches songwriting with equally ordinary life moments. And for her debut album, her innermost thoughts.
It’s the first time she’s written about her relationship with herself, and while she finds it “healing to be vulnerable”, it’s also terrifying to dig inward, share what you feel, and wait for public reaction.
But it’s her ability to connect with her audience through heartfelt emotion, coupled with her distinctive delicate singing voice, that’s seen her clock up 60 million streams across Spotify and Apple Music.
Her 14-track album has been three years in the making and will be released on all major streaming platforms on July 7 under Canada-based Nettwerk Music Group — the worldwide independent record label that was co-founded by former Coldplay manager Terry Mcbride.
Communication with her team is done electronically and meetings are at odd hours, but it’s exciting to have their backing, following years of “ups and downs” and hard work, which at times has felt lonely.
Self Portrait Of A Woman Unravelling follows her first five-track EP Sweet Soul released in 2018, and its successor Tender (six tracks), on which she worked for two years.
From novice to pro
Singing, piano, and guitar have been part of her life since she was a child performing at events, and as a teen twice winning a spot in the Play it Strange songwriting competition founded by Mike Chunn from Split Enz.
But it was in New York where she found her true musical calling.
After leaving Western Heights High and graduating with a Bachelor of Musical Arts from MAINZ in 2016, she moved to New York for a year to discover herself and here she was fortunate enough to work with some of the world’s top producers. Then in LA, she worked with eight-time Grammy winner FINNEAS. She began to release her music in 2017, signing with Vancouver-based indie independent label 20XX.
She was in the United States when her music on Spotify hit the million-followers mark.
She returned home when her working visa expired but hasn’t ruled out returning to the US, which is home to her biggest fanbase, followed by the UK.
“Australia is starting to bubble up now and New Zealand is kind of coming in,” she says.
While she’s been a singer for 20 years and a songwriter for 12, her debut album asks the question, “Who am I, really?”
“There are some artists who come out swinging and they know who they are. I’ve never felt so sure of that. It was me trying to figure that out through my songwriting and album process,” she explains.
She candidly admits she’s still not sure she’s got a definitive answer.
“That was the intention of the journey [but] it took me where it wanted to go, and I just had to be there for the ride.”
How something feels, how she might express that, and how it will be taken and interpreted are something she thinks about.
“I’ve written about my relationships with people and I like to write with the intention of trying to articulate my feelings.
“Understanding them more, maybe I’ll understand myself more,” she says, adding that her aspiration is that others will relate and it will help them through things they’re questioning.
While previously she focused on R&B and soul music, this album is “organic and stripped back”, focusing on her voice and lyrics.
“I’m just doing my best to be genuine and authentic. Maybe that’s where it connects. I do get lovely messages from people in all parts of the world about what the music’s done for them, or a certain song that means a lot. That’s cool.”
It’s this sense of perspective that has kept her going and endears her fans.
From the album Sweet Soul, the love song Falling Autumn was played by BBC Radio 1 and gained a lot of attention on YouTube.
One fan Ruben wrote: “This is beautiful. I’m currently in my room crying. This song has been a big part of my life this past year. I listened to it when I fell in and out of love …”
Other fans had similar things to say, with more than one calling her “one of the most underrated singers”, and “a hidden treasure”, and her subscriber numbers were “fixing to blow up”.
With her debut album about to be released, there are never-before-heard songs set to touch more hearts.
Track No.6 on the album is a “love song” called A World Without You, written for a family member, who was going through “a particularly challenging time”.
“It was quite an important one for me to write and I’m proud of it.
“Writing has evolved as I’ve released and written more,” she says, adding that her mum Rose, dad Rob, brothers Liam and Caleb, and partner Kether mean everything to her.
“I’ve been really lucky with my family. They’ve been a huge part of the journey. I probably would have given up or gone in a different direction if Mum and Dad hadn’t been so supportive right from the start,” she says, adding that her dad keeps tabs on her Spotify stream numbers with pen and paper; and her parents bring home champagne when she drops a new song.
The future is unwritten
To celebrate the album launch she is doing a two-city tour, performing in Auckland at Big Fan Studios, where she recorded the album, on July 7, which is launch day. And Rotorua’s Level 13 on July 15.
New songs were written alongside LA producer John Mark Nelson, and Auckland’s Josh Naley, Levi Patel, Devin Abrams, and Joel Jones but predominantly with executive producer and long-time collaborator and friend Noema Te Hau, who worked on the first song she released, Falling Autumn, at age 23.
“It’s quite cool coming full circle.”
As we come to the end of NZ Music Month, she says the New Zealand creative community is “bubbling”.
“You don’t have to look far to hear and find some amazing talent. There’s support from NZ On Air, APRA, and different organisations putting on songwriting camps. There’s an effort to bring back energy into it.”
Now balancing her time between Auckland and Rotorua, she does her best songwriting in an environment that isn’t home, such as a cafe or studio space.
“See if something comes out. Some days it doesn’t and it feels like I’m trying to push a boulder up a hill, but I work well if I can go somewhere that’s not a homespace because I can treat it as a workspace.”
She also hopes this album will be the start of more to come.
“I have no idea what’s next creatively and that’s exciting. It feels like back in school and you’re writing an essay and you get to close all the tabs. I don’t know what’s next now.”
Releasing an album has strengthened her tenacity and she doesn’t want to get too comfortable.
She’s held a variety of side jobs including teaching singing to students aged 6 to 15, which “weirdly” helped her stay focused.
“There’s purity in kids that want to learn and sing even if it sounds bad or they don’t know the rules yet. They sing for the fun of it. We need that reminder because we can get too serious.
“It is a hard career financially, but the pros to it can be enriching — the friendships and connections.
“When we’re young we start as big dreamers then reality hits, but it’s all part of learning how to keep pushing through those walls and learning more about yourself.
“It’s character building.”
# Go to undertheradar.co.nz for tickets to Alayna’s two shows. She’ll be in Auckland on July 7 and Rotorua on July 15. Go to alaynamusic.com for more of her music. Her first single from her album Arrived is out now.