Raised in the tiny town of Owings, Maryland, Rasha Jay was raised on a mix of R&B and pop, but immediately drawn to the alternative and grunge male voices of the 1990s, alongside a steady diet of classic rock. “I loved raw, gritty voices with a wide vocal range,” she says. “It was all about the power.” Early influences: Pearl Jam, Jack White, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys and Blues legend, Big Mama Thornton.

”Cicada” echoes the timeless sound of the alternative rock scene: think the energy of Foo Fighters combined with the melodies of Arctic Monkeys and the earnest lyricism of Pearl Jam. Then, take this vision and add an incredibly soulful vocal style, in the wake of influential R&B masters such as James Brown or Etta James, just to mention a few.

Written by Rasha Jay and co-produced by Todd Stevenson, “Cicada’s” lead track is the passion-packed “Rubbish.” Alongside rock, blues and a touch of soul, the song features grimacing guitars and fist-pumping tempo, as she taunts, “I give you these arms but they ain’t open wide, Who said that you could come home?/We could have reached the top and looked down… and you ran before the dark became the light.”

Rasha Jay explains, “The song was written quickly after a disastrous phone call with someone I was supposed to be working with on music. I had the guitar riff from my producer, Todd and instead of getting angry, I started singing to the riff—and the lyrics and melody poured out. I like to think the song has bite.”

 The overall theme of “Cicada” is observation. “I watch and listen well,” she says. “I wrote the songs while walking outside or in my apartment at 3 in the morning.” An example is EP track “She Sleeps Wild”, which was written after a discussion with her mother about her sister’s sleeping habits, “It grew into something more symbolic and deeper than her alone.”