Maya Salafia – First Grade (2021)

A first love is generally unforgettable and becomes more sentimental as we get older. Maya Salafia is taking us back to a first love that sticks with you with her single ‘First Grade’. With a sweet and innocent soundscape, she invokes the delicate feelings of a first love that you cherish years after it has ended.

With pure and candid lyrics, she throws you into the past and pulls up all the emotions you used to feel. Salafia’s musical career started at age five when she started playing the piano. Her first original song was written at age nine and she has not stopped since. Drawing on her classical piano training and a love for pop music, she crafts a soundscape touched with youthful tones and blissful emotions.

The soft opening of ‘First Grade’ is gently washed with a delicate sense of nostalgia. Through the flow of the melody, you can feel the warm sun on your skin as you relax on the grass with friends or your first love. There is a youthful feeling to the music that wraps around a tender innocence and the idea that everything will be perfect in the future. The light rolling of the music puts a smile on your face as you relax back into the soaring guitar riffs. These riffs take hold of your spirit and have it floating into the air like an out of body experience.

The tenderness of the melody is wonderfully picked up by the sweet tones of Salagia’s vocals. Her voice is like sweet nectar on your tongue as she pulls you into a reminiscence of a first love. Through her pure lyrics, she paints the memories across your eyelids and fills a bubble of happiness in your chest. It is impossible to not feel good as you listen to the single while thinking back to your own youthful experiences. Her voice does take a little dip closer to the end as she acknowledges that people drift apart only to pick you up on a swirling array of musical leaves.

Maya Salafia has you thinking about first love with the tender, pure and innocent tones of ‘First Grade’. Every aspect of the single adds to the delicate touch that sends you floating on waves of happy nostalgia and warmth. Her vocals are pure nectar against the sweetness of the melody that lifts your spirits and has you remembering the good times.

Find out more about Maya Salafia on her Instagram and Spotify.