Moscow, Russia-born Tanya Mezh is achieving a global reach. The blossoming singer born in December 2009 began her musical journey at four years old with vocal lessons and learning to play multiple instruments. She attracted considerable attention after winning the 2021 International Music Contest in the Children’s New Wave category. She expanded her exposure exponentially by starring in three Russian-language films by 2023. Her efforts to break into the English-speaking market are bearing fruit thanks to collaborating with renowned producer PJ Bianco, and Mezh’s new single “Lying Looks Bad on You” amply illustrates the continuing flowering of her gifts.
Sometimes singers have an aura of destiny surrounding them. You hear them tackle a song and think, hey, this is what they are alive for. You get that feeling with Tanya Mezh’s “Lying Looks Bad on You”. It’s reflected in the dizzying array of voices she manifests throughout the arrangement. It’s likewise illustrated by her unwavering instinct for tailoring her voice to the song’s musical strengths. “Lying Looks Bad on You” is an unified performance. There’s no sense that Mezh stitched it together from disparate parts with the hopes that it finds an audience.
Instead, it washes over you as a song driven by a vision and the clear know-how to achieve its goals. Nothing sounds out of place. The musical backing wraps itself around the various voices, and their lively tone gives them added strength. Some people hearing this song may feel like it tries to do too much vocally; they will be few. I hear this song as a powerful example of what creative vocal arrangements can achieve. There’s never a dull moment.
The musical arrangement is colorful. Each element supporting Mezh’s voice leaps out of the mix without ever overshadowing her singing. The percussion counterpoints her emphatic vocal contributions while keeping the performance moving briskly. It isn’t hurried. Mezh gives the song ample chance to develop naturally, and I feel like we get to where she wants to take us at just the right time.
The words are surprisingly powerful for a pop song. She presents her dissatisfaction with the song’s subject without restoring to crass or crude language. It doesn’t mince words. The music and lyrics alike never risk overwrought histrionics. Mezh and her cohorts calibrate everything with equal parts emotion and finesse that impressed me with a single listen.
She never loses sight of the song. Keeping running time under 180 seconds makes this as easily digestible as possible without compromising her artistic goals. “Lying Looks Bad on You” doesn’t pander to its target audience but provides a thoroughly complete experience. Tanya Mezh grows as a singer, writer, and performer with each passing day, and the torrid clip of her creativity promises to keep entertaining us indefinitely. The pop world is better off with rising stars such as this, and I hope she burns bright for years to come. “Lying Looks Bad on You” delivers in every way and promises so much more to come.
Rachel Townsend