The pain of not being able to truly move on can be pretty damn miserable. Why do we invest so much mental energy into ex-lovers and former friends who, to be perfectly blunt, are likely not giving us an iota of the same thought or consideration? I suppose it is a natural human foible to most desire that which we cannot have. Independent Brooklyn based singer-songwriter Akira Sky’s latest release, ‘Block My Number’, is a powerful, acoustic guitar-driven Pop song that deals with struggling to let go.

From the opening line of “I’m being weird, I wanna see you again,” you can feel the pain in Akira’s voice as she battles not to let rose-tinted glasses lure her back to a toxic former partner. Initially her vocals are only backed by gentle acoustic guitar, allowing the raw emotion of her delivery to take centre stage.

Just over 40 seconds in, the soundscape begins to fill out with the introduction of airy synth lines and a drum pattern that harkens back to the ‘stomp-clap’ anthems of the early 2010’s. Together, the vocals and instrumentation work to create a moodily atmospheric feeling that works perfectly with the sense of sad longing that Akira conveys throughout the track.

‘Block My Number’ is a tale of trying your best to let go of a former love, no matter how hard it may seem at the time. In the face of this challenge, she reminds us to stay strong, even when you keep getting dragged back with the fierce chorus of “Block my number, give me closure,” repeated with a pained yet assertive delivery that finds her reaching deep to find the strength to truly move on. 

Akira Sky makes music for the beautifully overwhelmed. She meshes uncompromisingly honest storytelling with vivid Dream Pop and Alt-Pop textures to create an immersive sonic world. Whether you’re dancing through the chaos or drowning in it, her songs remind you that you’re not alone.

 The track’s cinematic tone is matched by its stunning visual counterpart, which was shot across Manhattan and Brooklyn and directed by Luiza Botelho (a 2025 Pan African Film Festival winner for Best Short Narrative). With dreamlike lighting and grounded emotion, the video positions Akira as both observer and protagonist in her own heartbreak, caught between memory and release. Brazilian actor and model Pablo Morais stars opposite her, his presence serving as both a trigger and a symbol of the connection she’s fighting to sever.

What’s especially exciting about ‘Block My Number’ is how it teases what’s to come. With her debut EP set to drop this summer, Akira is clearly not here to deliver just another breakup ballad. There’s a subtle theatricality to her performance style that never tips into melodrama and instead feels lived-in and intimate, like overhearing someone process their feelings in real time. 

Emotional immediacy is one of her greatest strengths. She’s not afraid to let the silences stretch or to linger on a single word, wringing every last bit of meaning from a phrase  In ‘Block My Number’, those choices land with real impact, especially in the verses where quiet restraint often says more than a belted falsetto ever could.

As a songwriter, Akira doesn’t lean on cliché. She trades broad, empty metaphors for sharply drawn snapshots, the kind that only someone who’s been through it can write. Lines like “you’re the only one I’ve ever been cruel to” feel achingly specific and complex, capturing the guilt that sometimes lingers even after we’ve left a bad situation. It’s this emotional nuance, the willingness to acknowledge messiness, contradiction, and longing without apology, which sets her apart in a crowded alt-pop landscape. If Block My Number’ is any indication, Akira Sky’s upcoming EP is going to be something worth holding onto.