photos/ Nikko LaMere
styling/ Gigi Fernandez
makeup/ Rob Scheppy
Hair / Scott King
story / Ruth JiangÂ
In many ways, âMake Me Cryâ is an effortlessly compelling first single from Noah Cyrus.
Together, Noah and Labrinthâs voices duet back and forth with each other on the song in a delicate sphere, a pattern that feels formulaic yet intensely authentic.
Listening to the acoustic version of the song shows that Noahâs voice is raw and honest, containing a well-executed musicality that seems to stretch beyond the fact that, shortly before this interview, the singer had just turned 17. Itâs clear that Noahâs talent is as raw and natural as the way âMake Me Cryâ turned out.
âWriting has always been kind of natural with meâ, the young artist explains to me when I met her in January. âI was 14 and had never really written any songs before that, maybe like little fun silly songs but I had never sat and written out a song before.
14 was the magical age when Noahâs songwriting became more than just a hobby, and she explains the reason behind it as feeling a âbit more grown up then. I was starting to find myself and figure out who I am and thatâs when I started writing.â
She explains to me that though she has been writing since 14, âI was just waiting for the right moment in the past two years and for the right songâ. With the release of âMake Me Cryâ, the waiting game that Noah had been playing has finally ended.
Itâs no coincidence, either, that Noah chose to make âMake Me Cryâ her debut single.She remains adamant about the fact that above all else, she âneeded it [the song] to go out so that everybody else could hear it and feel the way I feel when I hear itâ. And judging by the song, these words ring true.
Connecting with her listeners is very important to Noah. Explaining further about âMake Me Cryâ, Noah tells me that though itâs a special song to her, the real charm of the song is that âeverybody can make it their own story which I love. Everybody can put it into their own situations. I just felt it was a great way for me to feel connected with my fans and for my fans to feel connected with me, so everybody knows that weâre all going through the same things togetherâ. She later emphasizes that âWriting your own music is telling your own stories so you need to stick to stuff thatâs true to you and be real so that people can relate to you and go through the same things with you.â
When I asked Noah whether there was anything she wished people knew when hearing her music, she comments, âI want them to know whenever I do this, that itâs coming from a real place, that this is me and I am talking to them in every single song. Maybe sometimes people donât know that, they donât know that songs are really personal and thatâs something people will hear once I have an album out, and Iâve written my music and I have a connection to all these songs and I do want people to know that every single song is very meaningful to me.â
Since this interview, Noah has released a second single, an upbeat anthem to being carefree called âStay Togetherâ. Itâs going to be an exciting year seeing where she goes with her music, and prospects of an album arenât too far off in the future. âIâm so secretive I donât want to give it away,â Noah tells me when I ask if she can give me any details or hints about the album.
She adds:
âIâve been working hard on it for a long time. On this album, I started on it probably in early 2016, late 2015 but I started writing in 2014. So I feel like Iâve just been learning how to put all of this together.â
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