Get your headphones ready on Feb. 10, when solo artist Smudgeout, more widely known as university student Deanna Fielding, releases her new single “Waiting.” Fusing the genres of neo-soul and rock, Fielding showcases the nuance that stands behind the ability to take multiple layers of sound and back her bone-chillingly radiant vocals.

Fielding’s audio engineering background shines equally as powerful as her vocals, while she lays out this limit-pushing single surrounding self-introspection into one’s flaws.

She said her solo work is “a project for my mixing, recording and producing.” This ties heavily into how Fielding describes the process of writing her solo work, in which she finds herself thinking more with her “math and theory brain,” but this should not distract you from her ethereal range of vocals and powerful lyricism, which construct an incredibly layered emotional piece.

This particular project has been in the works for a good while, as Fielding explained how the process began during her time in Nashville, Tenn. where she made connections that advanced her sound production. With this song, she collaborated with another intern, who helped her produce the piano tracks.

Fielding talks about the baggage that floats around in your brain, and how such getting “pushed out into space” was the design inspiration behind the cover art for “Waiting.”

Sonically, Fielding said that this piece is very different from her future planned releases, which are looking to err more into the genres of punk and grunge sound.

Diving a little deeper into her lyricism, Fielding voiced awareness in her focus on visual and textural verbiage, which is found to have almost created a poetic ambiance within her songwriting.

There is absolutely no doubt that this song will play on a loop after listeners get a first taste of Smudgeout’s newest stream of sound. When this single is flowing directly into your ears, it’s as if you’ve become engulfed into a world constructed by the sonically genius; allow yourself to be immersed within it.

Be sure to follow Smudgeout on Spotify and check out Fielding’s official website at deanduzmc.wixsite.com/smudgeout.