by Philip Moss

The changing of the seasons can change a person’s entire perspective. The gloom of the dark nights, and somehow even darker mornings, is replaced, simply, by light. Optimism. And somehow everything feels different.

On her new single, and second of 2022 following the February release of Alight, Texas’ songwriter, Riya Mahesh, returns with Saltwater. On it, her Quiet Light moniker could not make more sense, as relationship pain is replaced by a new, forward facing outlook. Ushered in by her lapping acoustic guitar, Mahesh immediately recalls Skullcrusher’s Day of Show – and like her contemporary, feels fully formed even at this very early stage in her artistic venture. After just seconds, Saltwater will engulf you, but it is at two minutes and 47 seconds where it really takes you under its hypnotic spell: Maria BC-alike harmonies combining with the positivity of the song’s looping chorus – ‘I’m gonna love till my days get old, and love you until my heart explodes…’ And on this basis, the feeling is very much mutual.

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