In 2018, rising R&B star Iyla was a cautious lover on breakout single “Juice,” wherein over bouncy synths she accepts a new lover (“Oh no, you might be the one,” she coos). But “Strings,” the standout from her new EP, Other Ways to Vent, feels like its twisted sister: Now she’s being played like a puppet. Through a skittering, schizophrenic production (by Kadis, her mainstay producer) she both floats with airy consideration and dives into rage-by-the-syllable sass (“Why you over there lookin’ like a snack when I’m the whole dinner?” she demands), somehow unhinged and unbothered at the same damn time. —Terron Moore
