Los Angeles' KiNG MALA touches on themes of lust, recklessness and femininity in her work. Her last single, Sugarblind, was a swaggering track that gained widespread acclaim from the likes of Live Nation's Ones to Watch, Earmilk and American Songwriter to name a few. Fans will be glad to hear that her new single, If I Try To Find You, picks up where its predecessor left off.

Born in El Paso and now based in L.A., the singer-songwriter – otherwise known as Areli Castro – writes an element of confrontation into her music. It’s bold, uncompromising and totally unapologetic. “I hope it helps people feel okay with what they feel,” she says. “I'm a person with very intense feelings and it took me a long time to realize that that's a gift, not a weakness.”

If I Try To Find You builds from a low key intro, before exploding into a big chorus that sees the vocals reach astonishing highs as they crash against an industrial beat that jars, creating a captivating but oddly unsettling listening experience.

Lyrically its a brave track, as she sings: “You should have known better / You had a decade over me / That you were a storm that I couldn’t weather / I was blind babe, but now I see”, and the music perfectly suits the difficult and deeply personal subject matter.

The song has been produced by Rob Auerbach and mastered by John Greenham, who has worked with the likes of Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, Katy Perry, and Banks. There’s more than a touch of Eilish’s minimalist cool to KiNG MALA; both merge gentle electro refrains with big beats and smart lyrics.

Describing If I Try To Find You in a press release, KiNG MALA said: “This song is a super personal one for me. I was thinking about a relationship I had when I was 16/17 with someone much older than me and wondering how that person is and where they might be now.”

Listen to If I Try To Find You here.

Follow KiNG MALA on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.