Sad Girl With A Punchline," Filiah's latest single, doesn't just straddle the line between tragic and funny but tap dances on it. In an effervescent whirl of indie pop and alt-rock defiance, the Austrian singer-songwriter presents her emotional quirks and contradictions, yet still manages to laugh at herself along the way. Diving further into the synth-driven pop textures she began exploring earlier this year, Filiah pushes herself away from her indie-folk roots but not without taking with her the raw, diary-like storytelling that fans have come to love. This is a cut that turns emotional bruises into a badge of honor. It's wry, it's reflective, and, most of all, it's disarmingly honest.
"Sad Girl With A Punchline" is a reclamation of the position that many artists are often relegated to, the sensitive outsider who feels too much. But that Filiah wears it with a sense of humor, flipping self-criticism on its head and providing you with an anthem for feeling misunderstood but undefeated. There is a catharsis in the way she toggles between openness and playfulness, a wink in the middle of a meltdown. The production is smoother than ever, synths twinkle, drums thump with assurance, but the emotional center stands unwavering. Her voice, a provocative combination of tenderness and resiliency, floats above it all like a confessional monologue at an afterparty, where truth runs.
Brought up by a music-loving single mother, Filiah's songwriting origins date back to those childhood car journeys of spontaneous karaoke and genre-eclectic vinyls. That heritage wells to the surface here, where she combines hooky pop instincts with the kind of storytelling depth reminiscent of Lizzy McAlpine or Orla Gartland. And yet, there is something altogether apart about Filiah, her Austrian spirit, her winking self-knowledge, her power to bring you to tears and laughs within the span of a chorus. With "Sad Girl With A Punchline," Filiah proves herself as not just one to keep an eye out for, but as one who is to be heard closely. She's not afraid to be the joke, as long as she's allowed to tell it and in doing so, she speaks for a generation that's learning to laugh through the heartbreak.
Discover Filiah on Instagram