Originally from Brighton, Mi’das – real name Mike Davies – is a pop soul singer that has been honing his craft for over ten years. Stronger is the third and final instalment in a trio of EPs he has been releasing since last November, following Glow and Grow, which are all his ‘The Story So Far’ series.
The EP begins with ‘Wish Road‘, which opens with grainy vocals. As the instrumental builds up, we hear Mike’s undisguised vocals for the first time with breezy drums and strings to accompany. The song cleverly maintains the balance between being upbeat and having a chilled-out feel to it. It also benefits from backing vocalists, and is overall, a very well-produced opener.
If you were expecting Too Little Too Late to be a JoJo cover, you’ll be surprised and hopefully in a good way. This track is a Mi’das original and exposes Mike’s silky soulful voice with acoustic guitar and drums kicking in to produce a cohesive sound. Despite its title, the song is uplifting, and like its predecessor, features a choral body, while Mike hits the big notes in the foreground.
With a similar likeness to James Bay, Vienna has the potential to be a big hit at festivals. With its catchy “Vienna, Vienna, I just wanna be with you. Vienna, Vienna, I was happy but I never knew” likely to be stuck in your head instantly, it would certainly be popular with huge crowds, particularly on the foot-stomping bridge.
For the final song, the EP turns rather more sombre – with only an acoustic guitar behind Mike, Like You Did Then has a raw emotion to it. Being able to hear the notes change on the strings gives the song an added grit that previous songs do not have in so much abundance. Its lyrics such as “How do I make you love me, like you did then?” may be sorrowful but with a voice like Mid’as’, it’s impossible not to want to listen to the song over and over.
With Stronger, Mi’das proves that whether a track is uptempo or downbeat, it can still leave a lasting impact. All four songs on the EP reel the listener in and would all make strong singles in their own right. It’s not often that an upcoming pop/soul artist produces such well-rounded, quality material but after years of making music, we shouldn’t really have expected anything less.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iko1yp0T35s&feature=youtu.be
