INTERVIEW: ALYA on her new single 'Dreaming': "You don't have to do everything. You just have to commit to something and keep showing up for it."
Image: Arnella Chilingaryan
Published: 2 October 2026
Russian born, Ukraine raised and Los Angeles based singer-songwriter ALYA today releases her new single ‘Dreaming’.
Created with her regular producer Tim Carmon (Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney), Yeezo and Kim Rutherford, ‘Dreaming’ begins with an appropriately dreamy, romantic soundscape before an delicious pop beat kicks in with ALYA’s sweetest vocal serenading you through the chorus.
Inspired by childhood dreams of what the perfect love would be, ALYA sings of the joy and the dizzy high of realising a budding romance could be the real thing. ‘Caught in your light like diamonds dancing’
“I was always a dreamer of romance, although it wasn’t nourished or encouraged in my culture,” ALYA says. “I spent many nights fantasising about the hand-holding, eye-gazing, laughing-with-each-other kind of love, but I never thought it would be possible.”
ALYA has been releasing music since 2019 and her sound has covered electronic, moving ballads and cutting edge experimental pop. She has collaborated with a number of major artists, including Eric Clapton in 2023, and her work with White Sun earned her a Grammy Award in the same year.
Outside music, ALYA is a renowned philanthropist, with her FirstGen Initiative shining a light on immigrant women and the great good they have brought to the world.
ALYA is a beguiling artist with heartfelt stories set to diverse soundscapes that are as thrilling as much as they are engaging. We recently sat down with ALYA to find out more about ‘Dreaming’ and her upcoming album.
Hi ALYA! Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us. How is everything in your world at the moment?
Busy in the best way. I'm finishing the album, and so excited about the release of ‘Dreaming’, also, spending the rest of my time on medical research philanthropy. My calendar looks like it was planned by three different people, and all of them are me.
Speaking of, congratulations on the release of your new single ‘Dreaming’ which is out today. This is a beautiful song and you have said it is about the childhood dreaming of what love would be like when you found it. How did this song come together?
Wow.. I love that you see it as beautiful! Well, the lyrics came first, and the music followed. It started with a question I kept coming back to as a little girl: what I imagined love would feel/look like before I knew anything about it, like the first school girl crush kind of thing. By the way, we recorded it and almost put it out and then went back in a couple months before release and changed the hook completely. So somewhere out there in the world there are a few shows I did with the old chorus.
Changing the hook turned out to be the best decision we made. The new hook is catchy and fun, a little nostalgic and a little retro, but it feels completely current.
It is interesting how childhood dreams - romantic or otherwise - evolve, fail, disappear and change as we grow into adults and life gets in the way. What’s one of your childhood dreams that has been realised?
In a way, ‘Dreaming’ is the answer. As a little girl I dreamed about what love would be, how it would look, how amazing I would feel. It was a huge, shimmering anticipation of something I didn't yet understand. I believe I've managed to capture that feeling musically in this song. Taking a childhood dream and turning it into something people can actually hear and identify with feels like its own kind of realisation.
‘Dreaming’ is the follow up to your last single ‘BELIEVER’, and recently you released four remixes of the song, all in different genres from EDM to reggaeton. Where did the idea for this come from, and what is the process like reinventing your song four times?
I've always believed a good song is a good song in any outfit. "BELIEVER" has a strong emotional core, so I was curious how far we could stretch it before it broke. It never did. We went in and actually tried it many different ways and if we didn’t have a deadline, you might’ve been hearing another 20 versions! My production team and I have such great creative flow that we really had an effortless fun time creating them. Also with Hugo Yin, doing the Latin/Reggaeton version was very adventurous and fun. Each version reveals something different: one is euphoric, one is sensual, one has swagger. Hearing the song in four different styles is a bit like looking at four different siblings from the same parents.
Your new album will be released early next year. How is production going on it and who are you working with?
We're in the final stretch, and it feels like the most honest thing I've made. My longtime co-writer/producer Tim Carmon guided me throughout the record in a big way. I’ve also incorporated some other producers, Damon Thomas of the Underdogs, and Felly the Voice. The single to be released at the top of the year is one of the very energetic dance songs we did called ‘Feeling Alive’. We also recorded with the London Philharmonic, for an incredible cinematic and longing song called ‘Tonight’ and I reunited with Gurujas from White Sun for a duet called ‘Energy’ and I’m beyond excited for you guys to experience this record!
Does it have a particular soundscape and/or theme?
Ten songs of adult contemporary pop with classical depth underneath. The theme is romance as a way of living, not just something that happens between two people. It's about noticing, being present, and staying curious. I describe myself as romantic knowing love with questions wondering about love, and the album is full of both.
For those who might be new to your music, how did your journey into music start?
Very early and very seriously. I trained classically as a lyric soprano and also studied piano, bayan, and ballet, so music was discipline before it was freedom. I was a journalist at a young age, so writing has always been a way of expression for me and being able to do that through my songs has allowed me to share who I am and how I feel in no quiet way.
Who were the musicians and singers that you looked up to as a child, and who inspires you today?
Celine Dion, then and now. Her voice was the soundtrack of my childhood, and she still inspires me today, not just as a singer but for her strength. I'm so happy she's back on stage, and I will definitely be there watching her perform. I'm also manifesting a song with her one day.
Outside of music you have worked as a journalist and you are also a philanthropist with a particular focus on supporting female immigrants through your FirstGen Initiative. While it is a broad question, what do you think we should all be doing, in our own little way, to make the world a better place?
Pick one thing that matters and go all in. For me, that's women's immunological health. It's important, and it's remarkably underfunded. Women are affected by immune conditions at far higher rates, yet the research has lagged behind for decades. I'm going full force into changing that. You don't have to do everything. You just have to commit to something and keep showing up for it.
‘Dreaming’ is out today, and your next album is coming soon, what other creative activities are on the horizon for you?
Live performances, and a lot of surprise collaborations I can't talk about yet. Also and of course, a holiday album, with a new song or two because my fans love that and so do I. Then my album In The Moment arrives spring of next year that I can hardly wait for its release and I’m certain you will love!
‘Dreaming’ is out now. You can download and stream here.
Follow ALYA on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and her website.
