Review: This Is Lyia by Lyia

Lyia Metas first album outing, This Is Lyia, is a commendable effort fusing folk, rock, blues and pop. Photo: Fahmi Ismail

A debut offering from a club circuit stalwart is still able to raise an eye brow or two. Why? It’s hard to say for sure, but working musicians often get typecast as imitators and not innovators, but that’s where Lyia breaks the mould.

This Is Lyia is a five-song offering that harkens back to the golden age of songwriting, where turn of phrase and sumptuous melodies are still the order of the day. The Klang Valley-based singer-songwriter is clearly schooled in the sounds of 1970s and flexes that intuition from the off with She’s Searching, a tale of self-discovery, driven by crystalline acoustic guitars.