|Tell me you're my keeper| Sings Aikya , ever so slightly . Her voice sounds so fragile and delicate , a juxtaposition to the lyrics of Selfish Ways . I apologize ahead of time if I am a little bias when it comes to this song . I'm already heads over heels for it but as you can see by how it placed on the lists , I am still trying to put aside my feelings and give you guys the facts .

Definitely one of my favorite songs production wise , with it's electric sound , layered pitch-shifts which soon take over the song in a Glitch Hop form and it's reviving hook that gives off an 80's R&B vibe . Once again , Aikya shows that her + Glitch Hop = LIFE , like one of Newton's laws . The vocals were arranged perfectly for the track as Aikya softly sings the first 2 verses of the song and is suddenly interrupted by an interlude of an inaudible edited voice (Am I the only who gets the feeling that it's saying something important ... but it's inaudible ... so , what am I supposed to do ?) which eventually calms down and lets the hook of the track roll right on through . Just like how in the lyrics , the selfish ways of her lover gives Aikya life , the hook's vocals and production does the exact same thing to the song and the listener . I've jammed out to this religiously and can picture this happening in my car . All the time . Seriously . One of these radio stations should just keep this song on loop all day because I would definitely be tuning in .

When it comes to singing , just like in majority of the album , Aikya is only teasing us with her soft , childlike vocals . She doesn't try too hard to hit any notes or to be heard in that matter . You can tell Aikya wasn't exactly screaming while making this track as you can hear the whispering elements in her voice but thanks to technology she's still heard clearly over the music .

With Me is a song by American recording artist Aikya Balan from her debut studio album , Mattresses & Masochists . The song was written by Aikya herself , with production handled by Nina Tarantino (Rum) under her production name, NinaT. With Me was sent to radios in America on April 7, 2014 , and was released via digital download on April 8, 2014 worldwide , as the album's second promo single and third overall single . With Me incorporates elements of electronic music and conveys Aikya's ruthless mindset when it comes to "sharing" a married man with his wife .

Musically , With Me draws influence from electronic music genres and is set in common time with a tempo of 172 beats per minute . The song is not sung by Aikya but whispered . It's not until what would be the hook of the song rolls in that she sings , if not , holds notes , when Aikya and robotic versions of her voice fade in and out with an operatic and seemingly sinister laugh as she repeats "ha" and inaudible sounds over again . Lyrically , With Me is a song that taunts the wife of Aikya's lover as throughout the song she repeatedly ensures the wife who her husband is with . As Balan whispers the track for her album verses a single , the meaning becomes more apparent , as the songs on Mattresses & Masochists touch on topics that of Aikya doing anything for her lover like her previous promo single The Boys , not minding to have to take him away from his family if it means she has him . Just like The Boys , the song stirred up controversy -- if not a little -- with women all over responding to the homewrecker role Balan takes in the song . Of course -- once again , just like when dealing with The Boys' controversy -- Aikya claims the song [as a single] is taken out of it's context as a track on her album .

With Me received mixed reviews from critics for not only it's theme but lack of actual vocals . Robert Copsey of Digital Spy awarded the song a rating of four out of five stars , stating "Aikya ingeniously made the perfect "other-woman" inspired track . From the whispering to the robotic laughing , it feels as if this is what the world should have been doing all along ." Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music trashed the song , calling it "cliche-central" , bashing it for it's simplicity and saying , "What I hate is the fact that Aikya does nothing but whisper 98.3% of the track and still expects us to waste even a few pence on it . I mean , yes , we have wasted money on worse singles , but it's the principle , people !"

Take Your Time is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Aikya Balan, featuring rapper Lotus . The single was released on the singer's birthday , January 1st, 2014 . Balan and Lotus wrote and composed the song for Balan's debut album, 3 Words . Take Your Time is a Trip Hop song which incorporates elements of Glitch Hop and Alternative Hip Hop . The song contains lyrics that reference to a celebration of passionate sex and a state of being mesmerized , leading up to a lust for a longer "round" .

Tric-Jam (A division of Studio60 Records) released Take Your Time on January 1st, 2014, as the album's lead single . The song was lauded by critics , who praised the addictive vocals , the guest appearance of Lotus and the vulnerability Balan portrays in the song . However , opinions about the theme of the song itself are heavily polarized due to the blatant sexual message .

In December of 2013, Balan had already recorded several songs before getting signed to the major label's division , Tric-Jam . She had actually used a preview of Take Your Time as a demo to send to several major labels which she never heard back from . "I don't know , I guess those labels just didn't listen to it or something because when I sent it to Studio60 , they flipped out over it . The very next day they called me back and had me come in immediately to sign a contract . I was actually really surprised because I went to so many labels trying to get a deal I would appreciate and never once got as much as a rejection . Me actually getting signed became somewhat of an unrealistic dream . "

Before meeting Balan , NinaT had already conceptualized the beat of the song and posted it to Soundcloud back in November . Within it's first few hours of being posted , the instrumental received a great response from the comments and was liked over 20000 times . At the time , the beat only contained what is heard in the last 48 seconds of the single -- minus Aikya's vocals -- looped . Once hearing from the label that Balan had made a song to it and was planning on releasing it for profit in mid-December , NinaT deleted the instrumental from off of her Soundcloud page and asked that Soundcloud deleted all of the reposts . She then went to add subtle parts to it and saved the original beat for pre-hook -- which contains the dark Glitch Hop breakdown -- so that it would add an even more dramatic effect to the lyrics of the pre-hook . "I loved the track the way it was , but it was even better when I remade the beat . It really shined a light on how clear and "sugar-coatedly" explicit the lyrics of the pre-hook are compared to the rest of the song and the track immediately received that perfect amount of edge . "

Chinese-American rapper Lotus became involved in the track when it was first being written by Aikya . Lotus was a fan of Aikya's earlier work on her mixtape and contacted her , suggesting that they get together sometime to collaborate . Balan immediately took her up on that offer , telling her all about the track and how it would be perfect with a verse from a rapper . Soon enough the 2 got together in a studio and Lotus instantly fell in love with the track and it's lyrics . "As soon as I heard it , it was love at first sight [laughs] . I just thought the track was so perfect and different and I had to be on it . Right after hearing the first verse , lyrics started to flow to me . I just ended up freestyling to it and then edited it , building on it and taking some stuff out of it ." When Lotus completed the rap and presented it to her , Balan thought it was perfect and made it the second verse since she was having a hard time with the ones she attempted to write , continuously scrapping them . Lotus ultimately ended up singing on the track as well . NinaT suggested it when the two were singing along to the track while she was playing it back for them , commenting on how well their voices went with each others and how sick it would be .

According to Aikya Balan , the lyrics of Take Your Time reference a state of being in a trance filled with love and lust and simply not wanting it to end too soon . " The song talks about how , when you are in love with someone and you guys lean on the sacrality of making love , you sometimes get caught up in the moment . It could be just sex for him and for you it could mean a lot more but either way , it's a feeling you both can't ignore . When you guys are at your climax . I think that's a moment everyone wants to cherish and savor . " Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone wrote that Take Your Time has "so many layers to it compared to your everyday lovemaking song ", that Balan's vocals "adds an innocence to the "erotica" ", which are gripped by emotions she " cannot control but wants to badly ".