Remember Aaliyah from the last few songs on background vocals? She’s back on this one, but she has a full Verse! It’s an absolute highlight on the album, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

We first met Aaliyah back in 2018 when she posted a video on Instagram of her covering our song “In Smoke” from our ‘Fade Into Blue’ album. The cover blew us all away. We had a show coming up in our hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, and we asked her to come up and sing that song with us that night. Of course, that went really well, and a few months later when we began the process of writing this album, I reached back out to her and asked if she’d want to be involved. At first, she was only doing some background vocal parts, but at a certain point I asked if she’d want to write and record a full verse for this song. When she sent me her verse, I was blown away. I could go on and on, but you’ll just have to hear for yourself!

Lyrically, this one’s about insecurity (similar to The Shape, but on a much more specific and targeted level). “IDKATAY” stands for “I Don’t Know A Thing About You,” and that line pops up several times in the song in reference to myself. It sort of personifies the idea that sometimes I don’t feel like myself, and in these times, I feel like a complete stranger. It’s rare that this kind of thing happens to me, but it specifically hit one night during the Game of Thrones finale (yes, the one everyone hated). I’ve never actually seen the show, and that night all of my roommates and friends were at our house watching. Instead of joining them, I retreated to my bedroom, picked up my guitar, and wrote nearly the entire song during that episode of Game of Thrones. I still haven’t seen the show, but at least we have this song now!

Production Breakdown: IDKATAY

In Smoke - Cover By Aaliyah Williams