Offie Mag

There are plenty of reasons an artist might sit on a song for a while, but being worried about what your parents might think is probably one of the more relatable ones. For Ilyanna Aziza, 'Is This What You Want?' was a track that felt a little too revealing to put into the world. Not because she wasn't happy with how it sounded, but because its rawness and unapologetic sexuality left her feeling more exposed than she was necessarily comfortable with. Eventually, though, she came around to the idea that perhaps that was all the more reason to release it.

The track now leads the way into 722 Days, Aziza's forthcoming EP, due in November. The project has been taking shape over more than two years, with daily journalling providing a space to examine identity, question old habits and make sense of the different versions of herself she's built along the way.

Rather than arriving at some grand conclusion, 722 Days captures a process that's very much still underway. Aziza continues to document her experiences, with the EP serving as a snapshot of where she's arrived so far rather than a definitive statement.

Interestingly, 'Is This What You Want?' wasn't always destined to be the EP's opening statement. Aziza originally had another track in mind for the lead single, but that song eventually disappeared from the project altogether. The decision to put this one forward was something of a happy accident, then, although there's something fitting about a track that took so much convincing to release becoming the first point of contact with 722 Days. Just don't expect the rest of the EP to follow quite the same sonic direction.

Words by Louis Rowland.