Tori Kelly – missin u (Single) | 365 Days Of Inspiring Media

Epic Records

Release Date: March 17th 2023

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Tori Kelly– missin u (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

missin u

For virtually all of my life (except for the last few years!), I’ve been listening to Christian music. And only Christian music. In the past, I had this widely misinformed perception that Christians should only listen to Christian music, and that anything else was me walking down the wide road and not living by what Jesus has in store for me. Anything else was me straying and walking away from Jesus. Yet my perception of mainstream music changed in general when I started my blog posts about music artists who I deem to be influential in the coming years. Tori Kelly, one of my favourite female artists (and one of my favourite solo artists), was one of the few mainstream artists, whom I blogged about, that has recently changed my whole perception of what type of music God can and often does use to draw people closer to himself. And that goes for anyone really- God can use anyone He wants to bring people to Himself- and that might be a hard thing to get your head around, but it’s true. Anyway, enough philosophical deep thinking for this post- now it’s time to dive into Tori’s latest brand-new single “missin u”, alright? While you can check out who Tori is all about in my blog instalment, as well as my review of her gospel album Hiding Place; this past week Tori unveiled an all-new original new song, the follow-up to her 2020 quarantine EP Solitude and her 2020 Christmas album A Tori Kelly Christmas. With the track being a short 3-minute dance/pop melody, we are introduced to an immense intimate experience, and one of the most emotional, honest and vulnerable songs of 2023!

For one reason or another, I never managed to review Inspired By True Events, the second full length album from Tori. It was one of those albums which we wanted to review but never got around to it. However, I jumped at the chance to voice my opinion here- given how much I have enjoyed Tori’s previous original material, and especially Hiding Place; and the results of the EP remind me that Tori is a force to be reckoned with in the mainstream music market- and the fact that she’s going to change the world someday with her music. You can read the review of the EP here, as well as Jon’s glowing endorsement of Tori’s Christmas album; but we are here to dive deep into “missin u”. A track that dives deep into the concept of regrets and what-if’s; Tori reiterates how the persona in the song still feels love (or some residue of some sort of feeling) for her ex, and wonders if she made the right decision in breaking up with him or not. With the song being an honest and vulnerable depiction of how people sometimes still hold lingering feelings for people who may still be compatible with us, be don’t fit with us in this certain time for whatever reason; Tori challenges us as to whether breaking up with a person is the right thing, or whether sticking it out with them and staying the course is actually the better, more satisfying and more rewarding thing.

Tori Kelly surprised us all in a good way with her pop album Unbreakable Smile in 2015, and even more with the gospel/worship Hiding Place in 2018. Inspired By True Events in 2019 was a sleeper hit, which I actually slept on and never listened to the album (and now it’s time for me to change that fact!); and Tori continued with the music successes with Solitude EP and A Tori Kelly Christmas. With a wide range of genres that Tori has experimented with in the past, it’s anybody’s guess as to what future albums will sound like. But with such a rich lyrical meaning in these songs, as well as a deep meaning in this single “missin u”; I reckon Tori’s upcoming untitled album to hopefully release in 2023, isn’t to be missed- no pun intended! So…what are you waiting for? Even if you aren’t a fan of Tori (yet!), check out “missin u”, and let us know your thoughts. And well done, Tori- I’m more than interested to hear what God has in store for you next!

This song is about missing somebody, but it’s also, just so inspired by the early 2000s, late ’90s. We wanted to make sure that we got that nostalgic feeling both in the lyrics and in the music. I just knew, ‘OK, when people listen to this, I want them to be transported. I want them to think about that era or just that nostalgic feeling,’ whatever that is for them.

I’ve played it for some people who just cry when they hear this song because maybe they’re thinking about a specific person, and there’s other people who are just dancing in the club and not sad at all when they hear it. I love that about this song because I think everyone can relate to it in their own way. For me, I just want to blast it in my car and belt it out.

With this new sound, it felt so natural to move around. Whatever the music was making me feel, I was like, “I’m just going to do that.” I grew up dancing. People might not know that, but I grew up taking hip-hop classes and stuff, so I really was just like, “I’m taking it back.” It was fun just to tap into that side. I think you might see a little more of that in the future.

It’s really trippy looking back. I feel so grateful that I’ve been able to have this amazing career and quite honestly, live my dream. At the same time, I’m gearing up for this new project, and it almost feels like I’m a new artist again. I have that excitement, drive and hunger. A pretty big artist told me a long time ago, “I always want to feel like a new artist. I don’t want to ever feel jaded. I want to always feel a little nervous and excited and ready to put out the next thing.” I want to feel like that too. I’ve been able to do so many things, but at the same time, there’s so much more that I haven’t even shown people yet.