Canadian-Egyptian singer-songwriter Malayka (formerly known to many in Ottawa as Malak Sound) just released her first single “Darling” off of her upcoming album AyoKay.

You can’t write about Malayka without first commenting on her incredibly powerful and beautiful voice. You can hear right away why she was a quarter-finalist on The Voice Middle East in 2019, named Ottawa’s Best Musician by Ottawa Life Magazine in 2017, and garnered a following of fans around the world.

The video for “Darling” is playful, moving, and really captures the moment of living along during this pandemic. While much of the video is comprised of scenes of either Malayka singing at home alone or clips of friends and family singing along on Zoom, the glue holding it all together are funny yet touching moments of Malayka conversing and competing against inanimate objects such as plushies, a watermelon and a pharaoh’s head. As she said, “the world has been asked to stay home, and I stayed home—but kept busy.”

About the song and video, Malayka adds “[Darling] is a song that is very close to my heart for many reasons including that its music video features some of my dearest darlings. and is co-written with the one and only Sam the Producer.”

So all those living through this pandemic alone at home, grab something, anything really, and have it join your viewing party while Malayka blows you away with “Darling.” And everyone else, get ready to sing along with this catchy tune.