Neffy Breaks Out of Her Shell on Her EP “Say Something”
Three years ago, in the thick of the pandemic, Neffy took home NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest’s first prize from her home in Arlington, Virginia. Now, after years of difficulty navigating the music industry, she returns in full swing with the upcoming release of her new EP. Neffy has spent the past few years processing the swarm of her Tiny Desk win and overthinking where to go musically from there.
Before her transformative win, Neffy studied journalism in New York City. “[The city] really pushed me and also really embraced me,” Neffy said. “It embraced my type of thinking and my type of dream and wonders about things.” Her nearly six years living in NYC may have inspired her musically, but what ultimately skyrocketed her success was her desire to return home, to separate from the congestion of the Big Apple.
She penned the song “Wait Up” about her desire to return home away from the fast-paced city. On a whim, she submitted the song to NPR’s Tiny Desk competition, and a few months later, Tiny Desk creator, Bob Boilen, and indie legend, Phoebe Bridgers, among others, judged her song the best. “From the first minute of this writing, I was like, this is hitting really heavy,” Bridgers said in a video before Neffy had been chosen as the winner.
Neffy had submitted to the Tiny Desk contest in years prior. Though those submissions never stuck, they paved the path for her 2021 win. “It really solidified my choice to continue to pursue music as a very serious career path,” she said. When she wrote “Wait Up,” she had no inkling that the song would ever go anywhere, let alone the Tiny Desk stage. With fate taking the reigns, Neffy began to listen. She went through the process with the mindset that “whatever sticks, sticks, and what doesn't doesn't,” she said.
The real challenge came after winning, after the confetti settled on the ground, after the cheers faded into the distance. With an NPR Tiny Desk Contest win on her resume, she felt trapped, not sure where to go next. Months turned into years of processing in private. “I finally got the chance to literally say something,” she admitted, reflecting on her latest single release. “I think I needed to write a song like ‘Say Something’ to really just get me up off my, my stupor a little bit.” By releasing something, she passed some imaginary threshold. “I can move on. I can keep going now,” she said.
Not only did this song serve as a literal and emotional release, but it also allowed her to take a step outside of her musical comfort zone. In all aspects, “Say Something” is a song of liberation for Neffy. The colors gold and pink and sunsets and shimmer encapsulate the playful and bright feelings of this lead single for Neffy. She describes the track as a declaration of self-actualization. “It’s declaring that I know myself and declaring that I don't really have much time to waste.”
As the title track of Neffy’s upcoming EP, “Say Something,” captures the recurring themes of the full project. Introspection has always been present in Neffy’s music, but on this project, and in this song, she uses the lyrics as a tool to try to navigate and understand life in her twenties. “[The songs are] my journal,” she said. “They’re pieces of a larger mirror that I’ve gone through since winning since winning Tiny Desk.” On the five-track EP, listeners will follow Neffy on a raw emotional spectrum as she tirelessly tries to navigate her life, career, and heartfelt dedication to her art. Neffy used her tumultuous feelings over the past few years to inspire and challenge her usual ways of thinking.
As she releases this project into the world, Neffy reminds herself that making music is the key to getting through hardship. She told herself to just keep writing music, to keep processing and growing and sharing her art with the world. Neffy’s EP, Say Something will be released on October 15.
