If you’ve spent any time in the progressive or melodic house space over the last several years, you’ve almost certainly heard XIRA‘s voice — you just might not have known her name. The Australian vocalist behind collaborations with 3LAU, Audien, Nicky Romero, and Daniel Allan is now stepping out from the featured credit and releasing music under her own name. Her debut solo single, ‘Feel’, lands June 19 via Anjunabeats.

XIRA (pronounced “zeer-uh”) grew up in Adelaide before studying at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. She later spent time in Austin, Texas, absorbing the North American scene, before returning to Australia where she landed Triple J support and a publishing deal as a songwriter. Her entry into dance music came in 2019 with ‘Tokyo’ alongside 3LAU, a track that has since crossed 25 million streams and put her voice on the radar of producers worldwide.

A run of high-profile releases followed — ‘Only For You’ with Nicky Romero, ‘One Last Dance’ with Audien, and ‘Eyes Off You’ with Polar Inc. — establishing her as one of the more in-demand vocal collaborators in the scene. But while her profile was growing, the years behind the music were considerably harder.

XIRA went through an extended stretch of IVF treatment, a divorce, the disruption of the pandemic, and serious health complications that kept her hospitalized for long periods. Performing wasn’t an option. Writing, though, was. “I couldn’t perform or do much of anything I used to do anymore because I was stuck in a hospital bed so often,” she says. “Writing music became my saving grace.”

‘Feel’ came directly out of that period. Rather than writing around the pain, she wrote straight into it. “Everyone around me was trying to make me feel better, distract me, and help me stop hurting,” she explains. “I didn’t want to avoid those feelings. I needed to go into the darkness so I could actually heal.”

Now based in East London and in a better place personally, XIRA is framing ‘Feel’ as the opening chapter of her solo career rather than a standalone moment. Landing the release on Anjunabeats — home to Above & Beyond and one of the most established imprints in melodic dance music — gives her a strong platform to build from.

‘Feel’ is out June 19 via Anjunabeats.