There’s something sticky-sweet but knowingly self-aware about “Like Damn (whoa)”. It opens with a line that’s more of a whispered diary entry than a lyric—“I wanna have it, like the last time…”—and immediately we’re in that awkward, honest space between heartbreak and hopeful delusion. But the magic is in how Miya Zawa coats it in neon dub textures, playful percussion, and alt-pop sugar. Think Alabama 3’s “Woke Up This Morning” went to Tokyo and fell in love with bubble tea and Taiko drums.
Built between four cities—Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Sydney, and Tokyo—this track wears its geography like patches on a denim jacket. You can hear the bedroom production in all its warm imperfections, like a friend’s mixtape made on a rainy weekend. But the details? They sparkle. From the arcade-inspired Taiko samples in the chorus (a nod to Japan’s Taiko no Tatsujin), to the dub-soaked beat that hums just beneath the pop gloss, there’s an experimental heart ticking quietly beneath the hook.
But the real kicker is that chorus: “She got it so good I’m like damn—WHOA!” It’s cheeky and euphoric, but it’s also about longing for something real. Miya Zawa wrote this from a place of wishful thinking, and in doing so, managed to bottle that dreamy almost-love we all keep tucked away like an old concert ticket. There’s no big crescendo or overwrought drama—just a kind of gentle revelation that crushes don’t have to be tragic. Sometimes they’re glittery, weird little daydreams—and that’s enough.
About Miya Zawa:
Miya Zawa isn’t following a roadmap. Her songs are stitched together from late-night thoughts, old drum machines, and cities that breathe memories. She writes like someone who’s half-singing, half-sketching in her journal, and the result is disarmingly raw but still wrapped in the kind of polish that makes alt-pop feel effortless. If you like your heartbreaks playful and your playlists global, this one’s a keeper.
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