Songs empower us to speak the truth. Penning lyrics with no filter and singing with real fire, Ally Barron says everything she always wanted to say in her songs. She might caution an ex’s current girlfriend of his proclivities or openly lament holding on to the last relic of a broken relationship. After independently gathering 20 million streams and 4 million YouTube views, the singer, songwriter, actress, and “fashionable sassy role model” sends a letter straight from the heart on her debut EP, Sincerely, AB.

“All of my songs are things I can’t really say to someone out loud,” she affirms. “I’d love to say these things, but I would just never have the courage to! My music lets me express everything I need to say into art, allowing me to talk to someone directly on each track.”

Growing up in a Southern California suburb, she overcame overwhelming shyness by following in her big sister’s footsteps. As her sister took piano and vocal lessons, Ally leafed through the piano books and uncovered a deep passion for music. At seven-years-old, she taught herself how to play piano and began honing her voice in vocal lessons of her own. Even though she quietly practiced for hours on end, Ally rarely sang for anyone—even her family. During high school, she began to post covers of pop songs and attract an audience. By senior year, she landed a lead role on the AwesomenessTV show Malibu Surf. Playing a character of the same name, she recorded a handful of tracks for the series. Among those, “Just Friends” amassed 13.1 million Spotify streams followed by the fan favorite “Start Again.” As her profile rose, she also starred in the Malibu Surf spinoff City Girls and contributed “Moving On” to the show. Along the way, she shared her solo debut “D T M” and continued to gain traction. In the midst of the Global Pandemic, Malibu Surf closed production, allowing her time to focus on music.

Under the influence of everyone from Rihanna and Kehlani to Alessia Cara and Zara Larsson, she carefully cultivated an honest and hypnotic style uplifted by pop moods and soul tones.

“It’s soulful pop,” she explains. “I’m pushing into the R&B realm, because I’ve gotten more comfortable singing this way.”

She introduces this sound with the 2021 single “What’s Her Number?” Co-written by Ally and Tony Ferrari, the track rides a glossy 808-laden beat towards an unshakable hook as she asks, “What’s her number? She could use a warning about you.”

“I wrote it after a tough relationship,” she reveals. “We weren’t together and I knew he was seeing other girls, which obviously makes any situation hard. My first instinct was to focus on what the girl had done wrong until I realized it’s never the girl’s fault, it’s always the sleazy guy. As girls, we should be helping each other out, so it inspired me to write a song based on giving girls warnings about the bad guys out there. Kind of a way of saying get out while you can!”

Then, there’s “T-Shirt.” As dreamy keys glisten, she recalls, “You left your t-shirt in my room and now you know I know just what you do.”

“T-Shirt was another ex situation,” she admits. “He let me borrow his t-shirt being the nice guy he was, but I started to feel like this t-shirt was the only thing holding me back from moving on. I felt like this was kind of relatable in any relationship though. Everyone has that one thing they hang onto for longer than they should that keeps them from moving on, and that was this t-shirt for me.”

Elsewhere, “You Thought” shuns jealousy with vivid lyrics and confident delivery. “It’s basically about judging others before you know what they’re going through or who they are,” she elaborates. “You see people doing things or succeeding in areas you want to be in, or maybe even just succeeding in something in general, and it can bring out a lot of jealousy in people. We need to learn not to judge others before we really know them, because who knows they could be really nice.”

Ultimately, these messages from Ally are meant to inspire in a big way.

“I want to reach everybody with my music and be a role model for girls of all ages,” she leaves off. “We’re all growing up and going through these issues of boys, being your own woman, and different stages of life. I want to be there for those girls, if they need someone to talk to.”