Album Review: Layla Kaylif – ‘Lovers Don’t Meet’

American singer/songwriter, Layla Kaylif has released her beautifully melodic new album ‘Lovers Don’t Meet’.

The short album is a whirlwind of romance, passion and heartache with every track telling its own unique and individual tale of love or loss. 

Blending folk and country, the Nashville roots of the album shine bright through the delicate strumming of the guitar and slight vocal inflexion. 

Over this gentle backing of instruments, Kaylif’s vocals are liquid gold, reverberating through all seven tracks and dripping with an array of raw emotion. 

Strolling onto the album initially is the title track, ‘Lovers Don’t Meet’. Littered with vocal slides and hidden harmonies, the track introduces the main theme of looking for love into the album.  It is beautifully written – like every track on the album and flows with calming clarity. 

Piano and guitar team up on the second track ‘99’ to fill the track with soft naturality that tugs on the heartstrings with every note. 

The imagery within the lyrics is impressive and carries on a tale of a love that is burning out too fast ‘Loves a fire loves a flame … you can’t love me with the right intention’. It is heart-breaking, playing on that bridge between listening to your head or heart, drawing out notes and lacing up harmonies to accentuate the emotion within. 

Similarly, ‘Let Me Count the Ways’ glides through a waterfall of emotion and details a tale of love without overwhelming or exhausting the backing or melody. The soothing country/ folk influences push the harmonies and backing to pack the sweet love song with genuine emotion. 

Kaylif’s storytelling abilities don’t falter once, narrating tales in 3 to 4-minute tracks without having to compromise on changing any of the sound to accommodate this. ‘Don’t you know me yet’ does just this, leaving room for an audience inference, making the tracks on the album much more personal and heartfelt. 

The album tugs at the heartstrings, making you smile and emote along with each track and story. Layla Kaylif works her voice perfectly to complement the country elements and delicate backing of instruments to mould and document the individual tales of love, hope and heartbreak. 

Listen to the full album on Spotify here!