Arriving with a powerhouse debut that packs an emotional punch that could rival Mike Tyson’s right hook, Alicia Creti is unadulterated dynamite. With a vocal that’s one half Amy Winehouse and the other Andra Day, her soulful vocal runs are like liquid gold that drizzle any soundscape she’s apart of to create an emotionally charged setting that will leave you reaching for the tissues. She’s got that spark that could ignite a wet fuse, transforming any song she’s apart of into a breathless sonic experience that will consistently leave you in awe. As far as singer songwriters go, she’s one of the most passionate I’ve come across in recent memory and her debut is something I wish I could bottle up and replicate time and time again.
Congratulations is a piano ballad that emphasises her poignant lyrical performance through an intimate soundscape that gradually brings you into the heart-wrenching world of pain she’s experiencing. Exiting a toxic relationship we bare witness to the agony she’s going through, slowly seeing her emerge from the turbulent darkness and into the light as she rediscovers who she is after losing sense of her own being. Creti acknowledges the grievances she’s undergone during this period of time but finds a brightside to the situation, focusing on how this will make her stronger than before and helps shape the empowering young woman she’s become. Whilst this man might have a small piece of her heart, she knows no one can take away who she is and that’s what’s matters most.