Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Gabriel Teodros, host of EARLY on KEXP, is "Deep Blue" by MALIA, from the 2021 self-released album Unpolished.
Originally from Seattle, Malia Cunningham moved to California to study political science and sociology. “I just went through the motions. I never did anything with music throughout those years,” she told Buzzbands L.A. “I was so unhappy and realized that everything about my life had to change. That’s when I sat down and had the first, honest conversation I’d had with myself in years. I asked myself, ‘What makes you truly happy, fears aside?’ And I knew the answer was and always had been music.”
From there, she learned how to play guitar and put her soulful voice to work as MALIA. Her debut full-length was appropriately titled Late Bloomer, and a subsequent tour with Syd from the Internet introduced her to a wider audience. Her latest LP, Unpolished, is anything but. In a press statement, she states the album is "about embracing the sides of ourselves that may need some work or TLC, and in doing so, finding great inner peace."
