“I walk around light as a feather / ‘Cause that was then and this is now,” are just a few of the lyrics in Ally Salort’s “I’ve Never Met Her.” The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter released the coming-of-age pop anthem in February, and by doing so, she kicked off the rollout of her upcoming sophomore EP Isn’t It Sweeter?
“The first song on the EP, which is ‘I’ve Never Met Her,’ is about becoming a new version of yourself. I feel there’s a lot of just freeing yourself from a lot of past things, and I feel like that’s a message that I would love for people to take away from this,” says Salort. “There are a few songs, especially on the first half of the EP, that talk a lot about letting go.”
Salort is eleven days out from the release of Isn’t It Sweeter? when she sits down with Melodic Magazine. On a comfy-looking white couch with her phone in her hand and a smile on her face, she speaks with confidence and grace about the new project. She started working on Isn’t It Sweeter? last October, just months after the release of her debut EP Change of Plans.
Last July, Change of Plans marked a promising new chapter in the young singer-songwriter’s career. Before the EP’s release, she was making waves across YouTube and TikTok with popular covers and original songs. Fans of these videos could pick up on Salort’s influences, whether she was channeling the emotional complexities of Fiona Apple or the vocal prowess of Ariana Grande.
Over time, Salort evolved as an artist. She went from a naive teenager posting songs online to an informed young adult with an honest voice and a relatable spirit. When it came time to release that debut EP, she embraced the emotions that fans constantly identify with, such as heartbreak, uncertainty, and strength.
That evolution carries into Isn’t It Sweeter?, a title that reflects one of the project’s biggest ideas. “The story behind the title is kind of a play on the phrase ‘the grass is always greener,’ which obviously, everyone pretty much knows that’s not true most of the time,” Salort says.
On Isn’t It Sweeter?, Salort builds upon these themes and crafts a project that feels like the beginning of a new chapter for her. “I think ‘Proof’ and ‘A Little More Fun’ were the last songs I wrote for the EP. I feel they’re starting to go into a new style, if you will,” explains Salort. “Proof” was the last release from the EP, while “A Little More Fun” was shared with the rest of the project.
“‘A Little More Fun’ has rhythmic, playful melodies where I can kind of sing a little more [and] really lean into my vocals, which I think I want to incorporate going forward,” Salort says. If you listen to the track, you can pick up on this new style within seconds. Salort’s tone is fuller, the instrumentation is more relaxed, and the textures are vibrant. “It just has more soulful, rhythmic melodies, and room to play a little bit more, on top of an organic beat. I would say that song is sort of like a stepping stone into that direction.”
While the songs on Isn’t It Sweeter? are valuable to Salort, there is one that she’s most excited for fans to hear. “‘If We Had Forever,’” says Salort. “It feels very right to end the EP that way, and I just think it’s a very bittersweet song. I love the production, and I think it’ll be super fun to perform live.”
In April, Salort supported Charlie Puth on the U.S. leg of his Whatever’s Clever! World Tour. The tour lasted until June, and it included stops in major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Boston, and Orlando. For Salort, this was her first time playing in a majority of these cities, and it was her first time playing in arenas.
“Oh my gosh, it was so much fun,”Salort says. “I have a lot of good memories. It was almost two months, so there were a lot of days to make memories. We had a couple days off in New York and then also performed at Madison Square Garden, which was crazy. So, that was probably a huge, crazy day that I’ll remember forever.”
On the tour, Salort travelled with a full band, which made the experience even more worthwhile. “I had the best crew,” Salort says. “We were on a Sprinter van for two months, so there were a lot of fun moments where we were all singing in the car or just making stupid jokes that ended up being our inside jokes. Things like that, I think I’ll remember forever.”
Salort’s social media is littered with photos of her experience on tour. In between the videos of her performances, photos of her hanging out with her band backstage, posing among the thousands of seats in the venues, and getting ready for the shows are plentiful. There’s also a picture of her with Puth himself, which just begs the question of whether or not there will be a Salort and Puth collaboration in the future.
“Gosh, I hope so. I think I would absolutely love that,” Salort says. “I was already such a fan of his songs before this, but I think watching him every night, I was just so inspired by his talent. He’s just so good at songwriting and music. I mean, just incredible. So, I would love that, for sure.”
This year has been a busy one for Salort, with the rollout of Isn’t It Sweeter? and the Puth tour. Yet, Salort was prepared for the chaos. Earlier this year, she got together with her team and started planning. While the final EP track list was still undetermined, they still went forward with creating the visuals. This alleviated Salort from the pressure of organizing a rollout and shooting the visualizers while on the road.
“I knew what I wanted the visual world to look like for it, so we did a big shoot where we did a bunch of visualizers for a bunch of different songs,” Salort says. “We did all of the art so that throughout this year, when I’ve been on tour or when I haven’t been home, we’ve been able to just drop music because we already have all the visuals ready.”
After the release of Isn’t It Sweeter?, Salort has started preparing for her first headline tour. “I’ve only done a few sporadic headline shows, so that is sort of what we’re focusing on,” Salort explains. The tour will be the perfect way to close out this year for her, as she will be adding a new milestone to her career.
Salort then thinks back to the creation of the EP and what the project means to her as a whole. “I wrote a lot of this EP while travelling to different places, like I was in London for a lot of this, and I just remember really resonating with that concept of ‘wherever you go, you’re still you,’ ‘cause I was still writing about the same things that I would at home,” she explains. “That title is a lyric in one of the songs on the EP, but I thought it just really encapsulates what the EP means to me.”
