Photo Credit: Zealand Yancy (@zealandyancy)
By Alissa Arunarsirakul // March 26, 2021
16-year-old KALI is back at it again with the stellar indie rock tendencies we can’t get enough of. With plenty of buzz around her name, KALI’s hard work over the years has certainly paid off. Ahead of her highly anticipated debut EP, KALI holds us over with her disco-infused new single, “I Just Wanna.”
On “I Just Wanna,” KALI explained,
“The song was symbolic of my physical experience of being grounded. At the same time, it represents the emotions towards someone who wouldn’t give me the vehicle to express my feelings for them, who I was unable to see at the time.”
Sonically, “I Just Wanna” hears KALI experimenting with frilly synths and groovy bass lines. Tired of feeling unable to express herself, KALI uses “I Just Wanna” as a vessel to communicate her deepest thoughts with the world. In the accompanying visual, a crimson-lit KALI chases the camera around in the darkness to no avail.
“I wrote the second verse months later after I was feeling a different kind of emotion, leaning more towards resentment and bitterness, which makes me feel a little bad when I listen back, if I’m being honest.”
The Hidden Hits 