(Project Review) The Emotional Intelligence of Alex Isley's WHEN

When I first pressed play on WHEN, I was pulled in emotionally right away. Something about the tone, the vulnerability in her voice — it caught me instantly. But what really deepened my connection to the project was how it kept revealing new layers the more I listened. Each spin brought something fresh — a lyric I hadn’t caught, a subtle shift in tone. The better I understood it, the better it sounded. This is the kind of music you don’t just hear — you sit with it. And that’s exactly what I did. It became one of those rare projects I could just let ride on repeat, never needing to skip a track.

One of the first things that caught my attention was how emotionally intelligent and self-aware this project is. There’s a line on the opening track, “Holding On,” where she asks, “What did I learn? What did I leave?” And that just hit. It’s an extremely emotionally intelligent statement. People move through relationships and situationships so fast these days, and so often without pausing to reflect. That one line reminded me how important it is to sit with what happened, not just move past it. You went through it for a reason.

That’s really the thread that ties this whole EP together. It feels like a journey — from trying to hold on to something complicated in the beginning, to eventually reaching peace and saying, “Thank You for a Lovely Time” at the end. Those two songs in particular feel like the bookends of a full emotional cycle. Whether intentional or not, it played like a story of growth and closure, with everything in between mapping out the in-between emotions we all feel when we’re figuring things out.

My favorite song hands down was “Hands.” She made a whole track about the feeling of a man’s touch — and that’s not something we hear much about in that kind of raw, poetic way. That level of emotional self-awareness and storytelling is what makes Alex Isley different. It made me reflect on how powerful something as simple as touch really is, and how overlooked it can be. Obviously, she’s singing about the right man — that’s important — but still, the fact she made it into a full song? That’s a flex.

Then there’s “Mic On,” where she slides in one of my favorite bars on the project: “It ain’t Maybelline, I was born with it, you ain’t check my bloodline.” That was such a fly bar — a little rap flavor right there. She’s talking about her natural beauty, her hair, her essence, and claiming it with pride. It’s playful but powerful.

The project also has a cinematic feel thanks to the visuals. Each of the six songs has a music video and watching them in order felt like seeing scenes from a film. It honestly played like the soundtrack to her own movie — her lived experiences, her emotional turns, all playing out on screen. One detail that really stood out to me was the use of blue. On the cover, there’s a shade of blue that also appears in the final video, where she’s just sitting alone in a blue room, reflecting as she is looking up at the ceiling. It could all tie into how she lives with synesthesia — seeing music in colors — though I haven’t confirmed that for this project. Still, it wouldn’t surprise me if that visual choice was connected to how she feels the music. That shade of blue — calm, deep, thoughtful — feels like the emotional color of the whole project.

There’s also a skit on the project that adds even more depth. It sounds like a woman speaking to Alex, offering some real wisdom. She says, “Either something is going to work or it’s not. You have to realize your own beauty and your own worth. You have to feel like, is this person worthy of my time and my attention?” That part really stayed with me. It felt like advice you carry with you. Toward the end, she adds, “You have to pray about it,” and that part might actually be the most important. Because what she’s really saying is — that’s where the answers are. That skit ties in perfectly with the theme of learning to love yourself first.

Alex Isley isn’t just making music for vibes. She’s making music with depth — and not just the kind of depth any artist claims when they say their music is "real." This is different. This is honesty layered with emotional intelligence and self-awareness. WHEN asks you to listen more than once, not because you missed something, but because you feel something new each time. It’s soulful, reflective, and rooted in truth. And in 2025, that kind of honest storytelling, with real emotional weight behind it, is a rare gift.