I’ve been sleeping with this guy for three weeks and the sex keeps getting better but the conversation keeps getting worse. Like genuinely we fuck and it’s electric – the kind of release where you literally curl up in a fetal position and suck your thumb afterwards. Then we’re lying there and he’ll ask me surface-level shit like “so what do you do for fun” and I’m thinking bro you just had your face between my thighs, we’re past the first date questions. Last night he left at 2am because he had “early morning plans” which fine, but then I see him posting Instagram stories at noon still in bed. So the plans were lying? The physical pull is undeniable. We keep coming back. The emotional availability though? That’s where I’m starting to feel like I’m drowning while he’s just floating along having a great time with zero intention of going deeper. IVANA with Shyy Beats’s ‘Under’ gets that exact disconnect.
This is a club-ready dance-pop track that sounds way too upbeat for what it’s actually about. IVANA’s voice rides over Shyy Beats’s sleek production and the whole thing sits somewhere between dance and urban R&B. You can absolutely move to this. You can also spiral to it.
The song opens with IVANA admitting the physical chemistry is real. “There’s an energy / when you’re holding me / something different when we touch.” Yeah. That energy exists and you both feel it. When you touch there’s this pull that doesn’t make logical sense but your bodies have already figured out the choreography. Then comes the problem. “But we turn away / blame it on a phase / have I failed again at love.”
So instead of acknowledging what’s happening you both turn away from it? Call it a phase like you’re seventeen and don’t know better? She’s already blaming herself and asking if she failed at love again. That progression from recognizing chemistry to immediately assuming you’re the problem? I felt that.
Here’s where it gets fucking brutal. “I’m scared to say that you should find somebody else / ’cause we’re not working and I blame it on myself.” Wait. You’re preemptively breaking up with someone because you’re scared they’ll do it first? That’s self-sabotage and I’ve done this. Sent the “maybe you should find someone better” text when what I actually meant was “please tell me I’m wrong and fight for this.” It’s exhausting.
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“We’re getting further from the truth now, can’t you tell / don’t let me drown / just pull me out.” The water metaphor starts here. You’re drowning and they can see it happening. They’re right there. Could say something that makes this okay. Give you actual clarity about where this is going. Instead they’re vague and detached and watching you struggle.
IVANA’s from Melbourne and she’s only 22 but she’s already figured out how to bottle this specific panic into a dance track. She went from belting Adele covers to making club bangers. When she auditioned for Australian Idol 2024 they threw Becky Hill’s ‘Remember’ at her and she freaked because she’d never tried that sound before. Placed Top 4. That performance changed her whole trajectory.
Actually quick tangent but I dated someone last summer who pulled this exact shit. Amazing physical chemistry. Could go for hours. Then he’d get up and leave without much conversation. I asked him once what he was looking for and he said “just seeing where things go” which is code for “I’m enjoying this but have zero plans to give you clarity.” Cool so I’m supposed to just drown in uncertainty while you have a great time?
The chorus is where IVANA’s in full panic mode about the disconnect. “Fighting, you’re making / a mess out of me / not giving us all / the space that we need / maybe we’re falling, we’re falling out of touch.” They’re fighting you on every emotional front. Making a mess out of you because you want something they’re not willing to give. The space you need to actually figure this out? They’re not providing it because that would require real communication. So you’re falling out of touch while still physically together. Somehow that’s worse than just ending it.
” Baby, please don’t let me drown / sinking deeper, need you now / ’cause the wave will pull us under / oh, under, down / need someone to pull me out / ’cause the water’s getting colder. “ That’s pure panic brain. You’re sinking and they’re right there. Could grab you. Pull you out. Give you the reassurance you need. Instead they’re just watching you go under while the water gets colder. That’s them pulling away emotionally while the physical part stays hot.
She dropped ‘Ooh La La La’ independently in July 2024 with producers DNA. Same guys behind Ricki-Lee’s tracks. That got 200k streams and then ‘Beating Heart’ matched those numbers. Her collab ‘Liar Liar’ with FDVM and CARSTN hit 1.5 million streams. Germany’s Place Called Home saw what was happening and signed her.
Shyy Beats’s production on this stays polished and club-ready the entire time. You can dance to your own emotional destruction and it sounds fucking great.
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The second half gets into how consuming this person becomes. ” You’re so heavenly / I can feel you all around / you’re like a memory / like it’s tryna pull me. “ They’re everywhere even when they’re gone. You feel them in your space and in your thoughts constantly. They pull at you and you hate that you can’t shake it.
“I wonder why / there’s a reason you’ve been on my mind / through the night to the morning / I don’t want it.” Through the night to the morning. You’re thinking about them constantly. And that “I don’t want it” is so honest. You don’t want to be this consumed by someone who refuses to meet you halfway.
Look I get it. The physical part is addictive. When someone knows your body like that it’s hard to walk away from it. But you can’t survive on just physical chemistry. Eventually you need them to actually show up emotionally or you’re just drowning in slow motion.
Then comes the final plea and it’s exhausted. “Just you and I when the lights go out / hold me close when the water’s getting colder / you and I let the words fall out / do you want it? / Just be honest.” Forget the games. When it’s just the two of you can you be present? Can you hold me when things get uncertain instead of pulling away? Can we say what we actually mean? That question at the end destroys me. Do you want it? Just be honest. She’s asking for the truth. Say yes or say no. Stop leaving her in this purgatory.
The guy from my opening texted me yesterday asking if I wanted to come over tonight. I sat with it for a while. The sex is incredible and I’m not going to pretend it isn’t. But I texted back “Do you actually want to get to know me or are we just fucking?” He replied “I mean I’m down for whatever you want.” That’s not an answer. That’s more drowning. I’m not doing it anymore. The water’s getting cold and I’m swimming to shore.
IVANA’s sitting at 73k monthly Spotify listeners and she’s got international written all over this. The girl who used to cry through ballads is making festival bangers now. Australia better hold on to her while they can.
