Singer, songwriter, and exhibited visual artist Lyia Meta might not be based in what are well-known centers where artists working within jazz-pop/smooth jazz/R&B genre(s) (she comes from and resides in Malaysia). Yet this did not prevent her from receiving a series of musical awards like the Hollywood Music in Media Awards JAZZ nominee (2021) or Texas Sounds International Country Music Awards (competition performance 2022).
She also had her visual/film work represented and selected at a number of film/video festivals.
This is just a simple indicator of the quality of the performance she exhibits on her latest album offering, Always You.
Collaborating with songwriter Denise Dimin, Meta, shines vocally throughout the eight songs here that do not necessarily stick to a specific stylistic formula. No wonder she even tried her hand at country and heavy metal music.
No forays into those genres here, but what Meta does with her smooth vocals is eliminate that generic element so often found and heard in smooth jazz/jazz-pop genres, creating something that really sticks as smooth in its positive sense.
