Watch Now: Kaya Stewart releases new video for “Til I Fixed It” from upcoming full length album
Kaya shares: “It is a song about self-sabotage,” “When everything seems to be going so well, there’s always a part of me that feels like I am going to mess it up. As I’m sure a lot of people feel.”
The song arrives on the heels of the album’s lead single, “Honey,” which hinges on a snappy guitar riff as her smoky and sultry vocal intonation simmer on the chantable chorus. Released September 9, the song quickly garnered praise. The 10-track If Things Go South, which chronicles Kaya’s self-actualization as an artist along with the turbulence of growing up, doubt, heartbreak and mental health, is set for release on Friday, September 30 via Bay Street Records.
The album is tied together with her powerful, unique vocals utilizing pop-punk attitude, intimate Americana-tinged storytelling, and infectious danceable grooves. If Things Go South (co-written and co-produced with her father, Dave Stewart) is Kaya at her most authentic, expressive self. The album is set to arrive along with a candid performance film — self-narrated — detailing her most personal thoughts.
Kaya adds: “This record is one-hundred percent who I am now,” “This is the Kaya I was working towards all along.”
In the midst of the global pandemic, she was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder which was the catalyst to write the collection of songs that make up If Things Go South.
She also adds: “It was the weirdest time of my life, because I had this life-changing diagnosis that explained so much for me,” “I wasn’t planning on making an album; I was actually thinking of taking a break for a little while. I called my dad, and he said, ‘Why don’t you just come to Nashville and record a couple of songs?’ By the time I left, we had If Things Go South. I was able to be myself in the studio. The album is the most honest thing I’ve ever done.”
Following her self-titled album, Kaya Stewart (2016), that acquired millions of streams, she then went independent and headed to Nashville to cut the Miss Kaya EP (2020) with producer Jamie Lidell behind-the-board. Earning critical acclaim for this partnership from NPR and more, The FADER hailed the single “California” as “an airy song about the left-coast with Kaya’s powerful voice and a lot of wobbles courtesy of Jamie.”
