Ella Mai – Tell Her

Ella Mai’s strong emphasis on personal privacy often leads to her music and social media posts conveying a sense of intimacy and vulnerability. Her new single “Tell Her,” produced by Mustard, contains a significant amount of complex emotion, marking her first musical release since her 3 EP last November.

The new single features a straightforward R&B sound, characterised by subtle hi-hats and crashes, pitch-shifted vocal samples, and gentle, watery synth pads driving the rhythm. For most of the cut, the instrumental isn’t particularly dynamic, but a dramatic acoustic piano section with additional melodic embellishments makes a strong impact towards the end of it. In fact, we get a key change following soaring strings accompanied by more pianos and synthesizers, and we genuinely wish it had gone somewhere else. It’s possible they are holding onto it for a transition in a potential future project.

Despite this, the “One Bad Decision” singer performs well here, but maintains a deep and more casual vocal tone throughout the runtime of “Tell Her.” Ella Mai delivers a strong performance, particularly when she candidly asserts her dominance over a partner’s previous romantic conquests.

We’ll have to wait and see what the Grudges collaborator does next, as this single may be an indication of something more substantial to come in the future. This could result in a more direct and commercially appealing approach. Regardless of the outcome, we’re looking forward to what Ella has in store, and where her artistry will take her.