There are nights when the world feels so fucked that going out almost feels irresponsible. Then one of my girls texts “drinks?” and suddenly I’m standing in front of the mirror deciding what top makes my tits look best. Ten minutes later Britney is loud enough to drown out whatever fresh disaster happening in the world my phone thinks I need to know about. Malaika’s ‘The Problem’ understands that whiplash. Sometimes I want to care about everything and still spend three hours pretending the only crisis in front of me is whether my lipstick survived the first drink.
Bright synths and steady drums give ‘The Problem’ enough lift to make the anxiety danceable while Malaika’s light vocal keeps everything floating above the panic underneath. She co-produced the track with JMAC and lets the unease hum beneath all that shine without weighing the song down. A faint fairytale glow runs through the production and gives the whole thing this pretty little escape hatch from the world going to shit outside – but for three and a half minutes Malaika makes it sound sane enough to dance through.
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She gets straight to the conflict with “I should be out with my girls / I should be wild young and free / But what do I do if the world / Is crumbling right at my feet.” That is the part of your twenties nobody puts in the going-out montage. You are supposed to be flirting with somebody by the bar while everything outside keeps finding new ways to feel serious. I know the guilty little hesitation before leaving the house when everything feels important and your plans suddenly seem stupid. Malaika gives herself permission to go anyway.
Her answer is deliciously basic with “Put my lipstick on / Play a Britney song.” Fuck yes. Sometimes coping really does look like getting ready to a pop song you have known since middle school. It gives her something immediate to do while her brain is trying to carry the whole damn planet. I’ve abandoned a doomscroll by turning the music up and getting dressed because eventually anxiety starts feeling like a roommate who never shuts the hell up. Malaika knows when to leave it home alone.
The girls’ night gets more revealing when she admits “Make it go away / For a couple hours / But not that long.” That line keeps the party honest. She knows the relief has an expiration time and takes it anyway. I love that because I’ve had nights where two drinks bought me enough distance from whatever was eating at me to remember I still liked my own life. The problem was waiting when I got home. For a few hours it had to sit outside the club.
Verse two makes the fear more personal. Malaika is out there clutching her pearls and wishing everybody could agree before the bridge turns darker with “Reason to hate it here / Reason to need some help.” Suddenly the party carries more weight because you understand what she is running from. When everything around you keeps feeling wrong numbness starts looking tempting as hell. Malaika calls her friends and lets the night interrupt the spiral for as long as it can.
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Malaika was raised in Dorset and now works out of London as a singer-songwriter who also produces her own music. Her debut EP ‘Dye My Hair Dark In The Summer’ arrived in May and she described its world as being about “a girl in your 20s and finding the fun in this world despite its hardships.” ‘The Problem’ feels like that idea with the volume turned up. Her earlier single ‘External Things’ dealt with temporary dopamine and the way a quick fix eventually wears off. BBC Introducing and Spotify’s Fresh Finds have already started putting more eyes on what she is building.
The world will still be waiting when the Uber drops you home and the mascara starts migrating south. One night out won’t fix any of it. Malaika takes the fucking night anyway. Whatever was waiting can have her again in the morning.
