Alexa Melo

It's been an intense few years for singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Alexa Melo. In June of 2015, at 20 years old, the Massachusetts-born, L.A.-raised artist independently released her self-titled debut album. A series of West Coast concert performances got industry tastemakers talking, acclaim from the blogosphere began to build, and support from major market radio programmers across the country soon followed. But just as things were ramping up, emergency surgery on her vocal chords grinded the momentum to an untimely halt. "It got to the point where, if I didn't get a vocal cord cyst removed, there would be irreversible damage," Alexa says. "So the timing was terrible, but it needed to get done." After a full year of vocal rest - pure agony to a performer as prolific as Melo - she slowly got herself back into the swing of things in 2016, recording a series of cover songs to post on YouTube. Alexa says of the sessions, "It was a good way to practice singing again. It eased me back into performing, and helped me let people know that I didn't give up!" Alexa moved to San Francisco in the summer of 2017 to begin a vigorous search for inspiration, to continue rebuilding her spirit and to create a new sound of her own. In a short few months she wrote and produced her upcoming second release, the four-song Mute EP. It embodies and sonically manifests the mental and physical struggles she'd dealt with while recuperating from vocal surgery. In the process of producing MUTE she met a key collaborator, videographer Daniel Garcia. He helped to create a visual aesthetic for the EP, directing compelling and emotionally-charged music videos for each song. Alexa plans to release the first single and music video in the summer of 2018. The entire EP will be available in the fall.