Everyone remembers their first love. Whether good or bad, it’s a person who has cemented themselves into your memory, if not just your heart. AZRA’s second release on her upcoming EP is “if it wasn’t for you”, a pop punk anthem that will get its listeners jumping, dancing, and singing along with its hooky chorus. As much as the song is about being reminded by your first love at every turn, it’s also about letting them go; realizing that you managed to break the cycle to find happiness elsewhere, and giving your heart a break from anguishing over them. They might have put you through a lot– miscommunication, fights, and heartbreak– but, if it wasn’t for them, you would have never reached that ultimate happiness that you have now. They were a necessary step in the process, and it’s best to leave them in the past while you live your best life.
When I say I love pop punk, I mean it. There’s just something about the energy that takes me way back to 2010 when pop punk and pop rock ruled the charts. So, I consider it a good sign if a modern-day pop punk song can bring me back to that time. “if it wasn’t for you” is like a literal time machine. Its instrumentals, like the classics, are superbly intense: heavy percussion, energetic guitar, and a healthy dose of passionate vocals make this song a wonderfully fun track to listen to. It’s the type of song that you can feel in your core, shaking your very soul with just how fervent the instrumentals are. You’ll be compelled to get up and dance, throw your hands in the air, and think about nothing but the lyrics and its wickedly fun soundscape. And speaking of the lyrics, “if it wasn’t for you” has some that are highly relatable, no matter what kind of love you’ve encountered in your life. Although it speaks about first love, I think it can also apply to your first heartbreak; the lyrics are all about cleansing yourself of them, even if you’re reminded of their presence in many facets of your life. The line, “You turned my world upside down, I grew a lot / I learnt a lot” really highlights how much love alters your view on life, yet you’ll always grow and learn from the experience. Bad or good, the relationship has come and gone, and all you can do with the memories now is put them toward something that serves you better, and serves your happiness. I really loved how reminiscent the lyrics were in spite of the pain of the relationship; to me, they were an amazing blend of looking back and looking forward, underscoring how every one of our experiences has led up to who we are today.
AZRA is a multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles, whose artistic reach goes far beyond just the music industry. She’s an author, dancer, motivational speaker, and model on top of being a musician. Her music has the purpose of uplifting others as they live their life’s journey, and she shares her own stories in her music with her signature style Substance Pop, which combines power pop, punk, rock, dance, and metal influences with intense 808 beats. In this whirlwind genre, AZRA transports her listeners to the 6th Dimension, a place of AZRA’s own creation, where dreams can happen and you can do or be anything your heart desires. Her debut EP “Freedom” released in 2017, which was then followed by a West Coast Tour as the opener for the Plain White T’s on their High School Nation Tour. From then, AZRA continued to tour the country, performing at Pride Festivals as a supporter and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. 2018 saw the release of her single “Dimension”; this track reached the top of Digital Radio Tracker Independent Charts for several consecutive weeks. Her 2021 single “Dangerous” claims this achievement as well. Today, “if it wasn’t for you” is AZRA’s most current release, and is the second track off her upcoming EP. I highly encourage you to drop AZRA a follow and listen to her amazing discography while we wait for the rest of the EP!
Written By Alexa Leung
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