“One of the most poignant voices currently floating about… Ayla Nereo is an otherworldly artist who shares the fruits of her soul.” ~ The Huffington Post
Ayla Nereo’s songs are like beacons of possibility amidst a changing and unpredictable world. With a voice that has the uncanny ability to disarm and crack open the heart, Ayla is an artist you feel is singing directly from her Soul, for what she truly believes in, and for the beauty of life itself.
With an array of loop-pedals by her side, she builds layer upon layer of vocal melodies into fierce, sweeping harmonies and weaves syncopated threads of guitar, kalimba, piano, and percussion into each live performance. Her lucid storytelling and lyrical imagery are water for the thirsty soul; words and sounds that crack open the heart, and embody the many folds of our own selves.
Most often compared to Joni Mitchell, but with arrangements and stage presence closer to Aurora or Imogen Heap, Ayla’s vocal melodies, timeless lyrics, and fingerpicking guitar songs harken back to an earlier era — yet she always rides the line between genres, weaving in live vocal looping, beats and percussion, orchestral string arrangements, celtic melodies, and even dashes of hip-hop wordplay, so that her songwriting and sound ultimately cannot be compared to anyone else.
She beams a fierce and pure love from the stage, and each performance is a deeply moving experience; an enchanting and poignant journey that holds you by the heart and doesn’t let go.