Precious Pepala has a voice that’ll stop you in your tracks — at least, that’s what it did to the over 2.3 million people who watched her belt out Alec Benjamin’s “Water Fountain” in a 2021 cover that went viral on TikTok. The 18-year-old U.K.-based musician has since shown her vocal talents extend to her own original music, too. This year, she’s released a string of stunning original releases, “My Eyes Only,” and “Looking For Trouble” — songs that waver and gleam in the warmth of her voice even as her songwriting breaches thorny topics like protecting her own heart and the fears women face while walking home in the dark.

On Friday, Dec. 2, Pepala shares her latest single “Voices,” another arresting track that sheds light on a subject many would prefer to keep private: the voices in our heads we keep at bay through distractions. While she might’ve come up singing other people’s songs, it’s clear Pepala is at her best singing (and writing) her own — if only to forge a connection with one other person. “It’s very important to me that the music resonates with people,” she tells NYLON.

“Voices” is a song that surprisingly, when it was written, I was in a really good place. It contrasted with the dark nature of the lyrics. I think it’s more about not wanting to be left alone with your own thoughts and not being in the best headspace and knowing how your brain can sometimes negatively impact your mood — even more so than when you are in a bad place already. Constantly wanting to be distracted, being around other people and different sources of media, things like that. I think a lot of people, unfortunately, have related to that at some point in time, especially after the pandemic and recent years and everyone’s life being flipped upside down. I think people will feel comforted in knowing other people feel this way as well.

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