Jet-propelled with a simple TikTok/Insta clip that gives a glance behind the studio curtain at her vocal recording process, Echo by Talia Perese has raced towards a million Spotify plays since its release in May. It’s just one of the eight 2025 singles that have since been rolled up into the 20-year old RnB artist’s self-titled EP, which dropped mid-November.
From Manurewa in south Auckland, Talia grew up in a musical household, and credits her dad Richard and older sister Enya with coaching her singing abilities. Schooled at Auckland Girls’ Grammar before transferring to Manurewa High, Talia found her sound, blending her love for jazzy instrumentals, rich melodies and soulful vocals.
“High school was definitely where I got to really explore my own music taste. Because we grew up in a very musically diverse household I was able to find genres that resonated with me more, like jazz. We would have to perform solos for school, and that was when I realised my love for more slower songs.”
With cultural roots that include Cook Islands, Māori, Samoan and European, it’s the timeless sound of classic R&B that Talia has settled into with an effortless style. Not yet into songwriting herself, she has become an emerging R&B sensation through the production, musician and writing skills of Edward Liu (EdyOnTheBeat).
“I was just a big fan of watching his videos, because of how talented Edy and all of his singers were, and I really aspired to become one of them. So during one of his live review nights I put in one of my originals I’d recorded on voice memos, and surprisingly he liked it and asked if I wanted to come in to do a session. It really just went from there!”
A posse of talented songwriters/producers including Liu, Aaron Strickland, Jeremiah Fale (Hales) and Christian Tjandrawinata have contributed to the singles on her EP. It also includes the duet single Too Much that’s shared with Hawke’s Bay singer-songwriter Makayla, who was part of the song’s writing team.
Her favourite of the collection is the romantic, acoustic-led Meant For Me.
“It’s my very first song I made with Edy and Hales, and it brings back a lot of memories of my first session. I love how well the song was written, and I honestly just love the melody.”
Numerous live performance videos were shared leading into the EP, that viral studio clip for Echo in particular making it look like getting her vocal takes down is pretty casual and easy.
“No definitely not! I was extremely shy during my first few sessions, but as I progressed I found it a lot easier to sing. I think it’s more of being in that room, it really feels like it’s just me in there.”
Talia’s online momentum continues to surge, their clips regularly reaching over 500k views and boosting her Spotify monthly listener figures past 100k. She’s super excited for the year ahead.
“2026 will definitely be a year to express and push myself a lot more musically.”
