Michal Leah might be only 19 years old, but the Chicago-born soul-pop songwriter and multi-instrumentalist sings with the wisdom, range, and intuition of an artist with decades’ more experience. Born to a highly musical family, the first-generation American singer grew up listening to a range of artists, both classic and contemporary: Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Daniel Caesar, and Billie Eilish. Michal’s debut EP "part one" is a deeply poignant collection of piano-led coming-of-age ballads — “The Way I Love You,” “Pretending,” “Used To It,” “Tinted Windows,” and "Almost Loved You" — that explore everything from relationships to friendships and coping with social anxiety. “A lot of the concepts that I've been leaning towards have something to do with change,” Michal says of the moving five-track EP. “I've been going through so much change.” The aching sentiment of “Almost Loved You" applies to most songs on the EP, which are confidently led by Michal’s mellifluous, soulful vocals. “‘Pretending’ is focused on how you almost felt like you would be best friends forever, but then it didn't work out that way,” she continues.