My new EP, WHO, is an introduction to my solo career as Mel Xkejfa. When I wrote the new songs on the EP, although I had no idea at the time, subconsciously they all tell a story about my journey to becoming a solo artist. After the break-up of Chasing Pandora, despite the hard work and potential, I came to realise everything we hold dear to us could so easily be gone. Nothing is Mine is the song that describes the situation where it is so easy to take things for granted and one can easily drift away into being a creature of habit, whilst we are always waiting for something or someone to change that. I didn't know who I was, if not the front woman and writer of Chasing Pandora, so I didn't know what to expect in the following year. All I knew was that to make things happen, I had to start from scratch and build something solid and new. I was so ready for this new road to discovery. When I wrote Pilgrim, I found myself questioning my faith and beliefs. I always thought of myself as confused about certain spiritual beliefs and cannot dedicate myself totally to something that I have no control over. I at the same time wanted to give myself with total dedication to something or someone. So, on my quest to find out who I truly am, I put all my faith in my music and picked up the guitar, pursued learning it and never let go. And for the first time in a long time, I had faith in myself again. I saw myself becoming this whole new woman. With all the changes in the past few years, with becoming a mother and starting new projects, I saw myself as this new persona, with a new-found confidence, a magical weapon that had unexplainable abilities and a power to make me create something that is all mine: songs and friendships with people with wonderful gifts. You never know who will be your saviour along the way and throughout these past years I've had many, from my Management and producers, to session players and guitar teacher. I call them my Odd Friends... in a good way ? The final song on the EP is the dramatic Storyteller, which sums up who this Mel Xkejfa is. I was a girl who always wanted something more, be it in music or in life, love and motherhood. I see myself as being an independent woman, who happens to be a storyteller - and it's not easy being a storyteller, as some days I struggle to put it all down in words, but one way or another it seems to flow. I see my imagination as a gift, and the fact that I can't control it is enticing. I hope it never ends.
