There is nothing better than discovering a great song with less than a thousand Spotify listens. The primal instinct to declare “I heard it first!” takes over the mind and body: being the first of a friend group to “discover” a great artist is truly a feeling like no other. 

While listening to “Time” by Maya Ixta, a 17-year-old Latin-American artist based in Los Angeles with only sixty monthly listeners to her name, I felt the rush of that primal gate-keeping instinct. The song is steeped in the influences of Kali Uchis, PinkPantheress, and Billie Eilish. Like Uchis often does, Ixta alternates between English and Spanish lyrics on the track. The production features a fast-paced syncopated drum beat akin to those on PinkPantheress’ debut album “Heaven Knows.” The heart of the song is most aligned with Eilish: the lyrics of “Time” aptly and delicately explore the fleeting nature of time and anxiety about the future.