Toronto Native ari hicks has, in a relatively short span of time, become a pop luminary on the rise who’s worth everyone’s attention. Her darkly cinematic sound is both sensuous and intelligent, always fully utilizing her “otherworldly” vocals to carry your mind away to equally otherworldly mind spaces.
Very accurately hailed as a “Dark Pop Siren”, ari fuses a huge sensibility for exquisite musical subtlety with vocals that truly embody a proud and steadfast attitude. With her lyrics and her performance, there’s always the emotional transparency of someone who is not afraid of opening up to the world, but where many artists choose to be or come off as vulnerable, ari instead gives off this unmistakeable regal vibe regardless of the notes she’s hitting or the subject she’s narrating, an inexplicable layer of untouchable dignity that the world cannot seem to sully; a very rare trait that not many *people* seem to possess. This attitude is fully carried over and expressed in full through her new single release “Midas”.
The Greek myth of the Phrygian King Midas is so well-known that there’s no need to go over it once more, but the timelessness of this story’s morals remains as true today as whenever it was first told: Be careful what you wish for. See that your avarice doesn’t get the best of you. These are lessons we are often taught as children, but it’s clear that some forget or outright ignore them as they move into adulthood. It also seems that those who dream of becoming successful in the world of music or entertainment may be much more susceptible to falling into this trap.
Life is complicated and chaotic even, and finding the beauty in it is the primary message behind “Midas”, with ari herself stating “This song is representative of that moment of peace in letting something go and turning into something that no longer hinders you but strengthens you. As I said, there’s beauty in chaos, I’d love to encourage more and more people to find it for themselves.”
To make a stronger impact still, this single comes with its own music video, exploring a visual language that is both rich in meaning but uncluttered and elegant, with clear analogies to the well-known myth the entire song is based upon. The Song+Video combo comes ahead of the much-awaited “It’s Not That Deep: Chapter 2” EP, in itself also part of an upcoming album combining the two, promising a storybook filled with empowering tales about “entering your Villain Era” as ari puts it so eloquently.
If you need further convincing. ari hicks has rightfully earned over 7 million streams across platforms and her music has been featured on popular Spotify playlists such as New Music Friday, Pop Rising, and SALT among others.
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