I don’t sing whatsoever, but I can say Alessia Cara is a huge inspiration to me. With her unique voice and bubbly yet sophisticated personality, she draws people in to her music. On Sept. 6 she released an EP, This Summer, featuring 6 new songs.

I always thought that Alessia Cara’s songs were amazing and loved her as a person. So I thought I would be a bit biased, but that’s not that case.

The first track on the EP is “Ready.” The song seems to be about a partner that Alessia is frustrated with due to his unruly secretiveness and shyness. This song personally wasn’t my favorite. I thought the chorus was too repetitive but her lyrics were right on the money for expressing how a lot of people can sometimes feel in a relationship. The actual rhythm of the song gives out pop reggae feel-good vibes.

“What’s On Your Mind” is one of my absolute favorites. It meshed together with ‘“Ready” inspiration wise. As far as I’m concerned, this song has no flaws at all. The composition from the chorus and the bridge makes it different from any other song of hers and it sounds very chill in terms of the melody but the way she uses her voice is so powerful.

The shortest song of the EP is “Like You”, clocking in at 2:23. Alessia is expressing how she wants to be with this mystery person but couldn’t care less if this person didn’t want to be with her. This song is very similar to another song on the EP,  “Okay Okay,” because both start acoustic with isolation’s at the beginning but transition into a very groovy Moroccan summer tune.

The next song “Rooting For You” is confusing, and I’m on the fence about it. I heard that this song was incredible from other reviews so I had high hopes for it but when I listened to it I was underwhelmed. I don’t think the song is bad but it’s definitely not the best on the EP. It doesn’t sound like Alessia’s normal music, it’s totally different. This song reminds me of Glenn Travis and I do not like that vibe for Alessia Cara.

The last song on the EP is “October” which has to be my favorite. It feels personal, like I was stepping into her world, which can be very difficult to gather from listening to a short song. I feel like Alessia broke down and gave everyone listening a little piece of her heart. Her voice sounds full of emotion, with a few voice breakthroughs to emphasize her sorrow of missing the person she spent her whole summer with, who is disappearing. It is an amazing way to end the EP.

Overall this EP showcases a very personal journey Alessia had over the Summer. Her previous music has displayed heartbreak and never wanting to let go, but you can clearly see in her music that she has changed as far as improving herself to be less vulnerable to heartbreak and learning not to care what someone thinks of you, which is admirable to myself, and imaginably millions more listening.