"Air": Shamiya Battles Production: Shamiya Battles
EP: Single
"Maybe I'm more than a person filling up the air
Maybe I'm growing and showing I'm taking on my air"
Following on from her acclaimed debut, 'Be Myself', Shamiya Battles returns with a new single that picks up precisely from where the last song ended. Despite being written entirely separately, the two are thematically linked, as Shamiya continues to question and confront her faith, emerging stronger as a result of this personal self-interrogation.
"Air" is a wonderfully clever song. Throughout the track there is a feeling of continual growth as the sections follow on seamlessly from one another. After a first verse that is part psalm/part single, where Shamiya blends tentative affirmations with biblical imagery, it is in the pre-chorus that follows where the real crux of the song lies. As each line begins with a hesitating 'maybe', Shamiya plays with the different meanings of 'Air'. Initially dealing with the concept of taking up space and her wider place in the world, the speaker seems to grow with confidence, as she 'takes on her air' (i.e. the Spirit), and her 'maybes' gain more conviction. As the chorus continues she becomes more certain of her place and her purpose, with her final line 'maybe I'm a girl that's meant to be taking up the air' showing her new, self-assured stance. When she repeats the end of this line, it is no longer a question; "I'm taking up the air" is now not only a statement, but a promise.