HAYLA's "Heal" Is the Song She's Been Building To
- LJ Portnoy
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Article Contributed by LJ Portnoy
HAYLA — "Heal" | Single Review
You think you know an artist. Then they hand you something like this. "Heal" isn't the HAYLA you've been dancing to — it's the one she's been keeping to herself. And we're so glad she's finally letting us in.
Released April 10, the new single feels like a deliberate exhale after years of collaborative highs. And what a breath it is. HAYLA has built her name on euphoric moments.The GRAMMY-nominated "In My Arms" with ILLENIUM, the dancefloor-ready "FADED" with Nelly Furtado, the Dance Radio #1 "Where You Are" with John Summit, but "Heal" strips all of that away. What's left is just her, a piano, and something she clearly needed to say.
Healing Discovered
The song opens with ambient sounds and quiet distortions at the front of the track that feel less like production choices and more like the nervous silence before an honest conversation. Produced by Magnus Skylstad, the arrangement leans heavily into piano, more so than anything she's released before, with atmospheric sounds and pieces threading throughout, unhurried and cinematic. It doesn't rush you. It waits for you to catch up. This song sounds older, wiser, more mature. Her other tracks have been more fun, more playful. This one feels like a change for her, in the best possible way. A new chapter. A new evolution.
And then she sings.
HAYLA's voice, a mezzo-soprano with an alto's depth and a range that climbs effortlessly above it, has always been her most undeniable asset, but here it operates differently. There's no drop coming to catch her. No build to hide behind. The vocals are haunting. It's just the voice, and it's confident and devastatingly controlled. She carries the full emotional weight of the song on its own. The second chorus is where "Heal" fully opens up, crescendoing elegantly and showcasing HAYLA's vocal prowess in a way that stops you mid-breath. Her vocals shine like Adele's, but with a confidence that is entirely, unmistakably her own.
And live? This is one of those songs that the performance is sure not to disappoint. Her vocals soars above the crowd and swallow you whole — and we cannot wait to see this one performed.
Our Sit-Down with HAYLA
When we sat down with HAYLA for Underground Radar earlier this year, she told us she sees her project as an extension of herself — not a persona. That she writes from lived experience, and knows when a song is ready to be shared. "Heal" is the purest proof of that philosophy yet. She's spoken openly about writing the song while navigating a new relationship — questioning whether healing was something she owed herself, or something she was quietly asking someone else to carry for her. That tension lives in every lyric.
The Chorus, Unwrapped
The chorus — "I want you to heal the parts of me that no one sees / I fear it but it's good for me / what lies beneath awakening" — lands like a confession rather than a hook. There's a plea in it, something longing and begging beyond the words themselves. She wants this person to heal her. But here's what the music tells you that the lyrics don't quite say outright — she isn't sure they can. The sadness and power of this tune suggest a woman asking for something she's terrified she may never actually receive. The song doesn't resolve that doubt. It just sits with it — honestly, quietly, the way real healing actually works.
Final thoughts
HAYLA first performed "Heal" during her fall 2025 North American headlining tour, and brought it to London's iconic St Pancras Church earlier this year, a setting that feels almost destined for a song this reverent. We know firsthand what she sounds like in a room that goes still. We were there at El Club in Detroit last December, a snowstorm delayed the doors nearly two hours, and not one person left. She told us in our Underground Radar conversation that live performance quiets her anxiety rather than amplifying it. That the stage is a source of peace. We saw exactly that in Detroit, and it's immortalized in our feature on her in Issue 7 alongside David Archuleta. You hear it in "Heal" too.
With a solo EDC Las Vegas debut on the horizon this May and a spot on the Breakaway Ohio lineup at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus on May 29-30, sharing a bill with KYGO, GRiZ, REZZ, and more. It's the kind of momentum HAYLA has built only grows when an artist starts telling the truth. "Heal" feels less like a single and more like a statement. HAYLA isn't reinventing herself. She's finally introducing herself.
We heard her then. We're really hearing her now. And if you haven't tuned in yet — this is your sign.
Final Verdict:
9/10
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