We Speak Music
Clarity Liao Drops Bright New Single ‘Make Up Your Mind’
Emerging singer-songwriter Clarity Liao continues her impressive artistic evolution with the release of her fourth solo single, “Make Up Your Mind.” A bright, emotionally charged pop track, the single perfectly captures the exhausting frustration of mixed signals and the ultimate courage it takes to walk away from relationship uncertainty.
The track serves as the latest preview of her highly anticipated forthcoming EP, Dear…, a deeply personal collection of songs exploring the multidimensional landscapes of love, jealousy, loss, and longing.
Liao’s steady rise to solo prominence is backed by years of highly decorated songwriting success. She first gained widespread industry recognition as the principal songwriter for the band Navillera, whose hit debut single “Too Young” took home the prestigious 2024 Yamaha National Best Popular Music Award.
She further cemented her reputation as an elite young composing talent when her original piece, “I Need You,” secured first place in the 2025 YMS National Composers Competition.
Now stepping confidently into the solo spotlight, Liao is radically expanding her sonic palette. Drawing rich inspiration from a diverse array of foundational artists, including Bruno Mars, Adele, Regina Song, and Olivia Rodrigo, her new material effortlessly bridges her indie-pop roots with elements of bedroom pop, smooth R&B, modern doo-wop, and contemporary radio pop. Conceptually, each song on the upcoming Dear… EP is crafted to act as a different emotional letter, expressing the raw thoughts and heavy feelings often left unsaid in real life.
At the centre of this new creative chapter is “Make Up Your Mind,” a candid and instantly relatable anthem born from the agonising emotional limbo of waiting for someone who refuses to commit.
“‘Make Up Your Mind’ was inspired by my frustration of being given mixed signals by someone who seemed interested, but never fully committed,” Liao explains openly. “The song is a letter about waiting while knowing deep down that the situation is going nowhere. It’s about wanting honesty, but also realising you can’t keep holding onto someone who won’t choose you.”
The song materialised rapidly after Liao heard an early demo sent over by producer Ken Fielder, who also served as a co-writer on the track. A catchy, sun-drenched acoustic guitar hook and a buoyant mid-tempo groove immediately sparked a lyrical melody in her head.
“The phrase ‘make up your mind’ came almost instantly,” she recalls. “From there, I wrote the lyrics to match that feeling of uncertainty and emotional frustration, keeping everything entirely direct and honest.”
While the song’s underlying subject matter deals with heavy emotional confusion, Fielder’s sleek production offers a refreshing, empowering contrast. Built around bright acoustic textures, infectious rhythmic energy, and an uplifting pop sensibility, “Make Up Your Mind” brilliantly transforms romantic heartbreak into something fiercely independent and undeniably catchy.
The track also marks an important professional milestone for Liao, representing her very first official co-writing experience alongside a producer.
“What makes this track especially meaningful to me is that it brought out a more playful, girly side of my sound,” Liao notes. “It was also my first time co-writing with my producer, and I really loved the collaborative process. That experience made the song feel even more personal and exciting to create.”
As international anticipation steadily builds for Dear…, “Make Up Your Mind” stands as a stunning testament to Clarity Liao’s innate ability to transform highly specific, private pain into universally relatable pop stories. Honest, melodic, and emotionally resonant, the single showcases a songwriter completely unafraid to confront her own vulnerability while fiercely embracing personal growth, independence, and self-worth.
There’s something wonderfully provocative about writing a song about God and then dressing it in the musical equivalent of black leather, shadowy nightclubs and the occasional reference to 666.
On ‘Take It or Leave It’, London-based artist Alysha challenges the assumption that spirituality and alternative music belong in separate worlds, delivering a brooding collision of gothic electronics, new-wave tension and unapologetic self-expression.
It’s an intriguing contradiction, but one that makes considerably more sense when you consider the artist behind it. Raised on everything from church gospel and Lauryn Hill to Siouxsie & The Banshees, Alysha has never had much reason to believe that musical identity should be confined to one particular sound. Here, those seemingly opposing influences finally find a shared language.
Co-produced alongside Matt Rist, ‘Take It or Leave It’ replaces the familiar warmth of gospel with shadowy synths, electronic textures and a distinctly nocturnal atmosphere. There’s a hypnotic quality to the production, allowing gothic tension to sit comfortably alongside Alysha’s melodic instincts without sacrificing the track’s accessibility.
The most interesting element, however, isn’t simply the contrast between its sound and subject matter. It’s the way Alysha uses that contrast to question the expectations surrounding both.
Faith is often associated with a particular musical vocabulary, while gothic and alternative culture are frequently positioned as its natural opposition. Alysha appears considerably less interested in maintaining that distinction. Her decision to reference 666, a symbol traditionally associated with everything her song ostensibly celebrates the opposite of, feels deliberately mischievous.
Yet beneath the provocation, the message remains remarkably straightforward. As Alysha herself explains, it’s an alternative song about God. No elaborate justification, no attempt to soften the darker aesthetics, and certainly no suggestion that spirituality must sound a particular way to be sincere.
That confidence extends to the track’s exploration of personal boundaries. Even its title, ‘Take It or Leave It’, suggests an artist increasingly comfortable presenting herself without negotiation. Listeners are welcome to embrace the contradictions, but she isn’t particularly concerned with resolving them on anybody else’s behalf.
It’s a fitting direction for an artist whose career has already moved through R&B, alternative pop and electronic experimentation. Rather than abandoning her earlier influences, Alysha seems to be finding increasingly unexpected ways for them to coexist.
That evolution also arrives at an important moment. With October bringing her biggest live appearances yet, supporting LANY across three stadium dates in Japan and another in South Korea, Alysha is preparing to introduce her music to considerably larger audiences. Interestingly, that expanding platform hasn’t encouraged her to become more conventional. If anything, ‘Take It or Leave It’ suggests the opposite.
Ultimately, the single’s most compelling rebellion isn’t its gothic production or provocative symbolism. It’s Alysha’s refusal to accept that faith, femininity and alternative identity must exist within somebody else’s expectations.
There are plenty of artists making dark electronic music, and plenty writing about spirituality. Alysha’s achievement is making the combination feel less like a contradiction than an entirely natural expression of who she is.
After all, if faith is supposed to be personal, perhaps the music expressing it should be too.
-
We Speak Business1 week agoFunl Raises $2.5 Million at a $10 Million Post-Money Valuation to Transform How Creators Bring Events to Life
-
We Speak Entertainment1 week agoANGELICA FIGUEROA TAKES CENTER STAGE ON THE ANDREW EBORN SHOW ON OCTOPUS TV
-
We Speak Hip-Hop1 week agoGhost Da Lyrical returns with Taylor Made Ghost
-
We Speak Events1 week agoAI FILMFEST Calls for Entries