This is the sultry sound of alt-pop’s future.

Most people don’t like to admit it, but there is something deliciously captivating about anything that channels the slightly darker sides of existence than we’re used to. It’s this fascination that the alt-pop movement has drawn from and its from this same place that Tessa Dixson‘s new single Prayer is born.

Dixson is a natural for this style. Her sultry vocal creeps across the backdrop of neo-R&B sounds and icy crushes of electro synths, making for a track that swells with a subtle darkness and a cool melodrama. Yet even more impressive than getting this balance correct and packing in a consuming chorus to boot is that this is not just any single for Dixson; it’s her first ever offering.

Of the song, Dixson says “I have tried to evoke a depth in my lyrics combined with a melancholic melody to mirror the complexity of relationships. Even though there is a certain dark quality to the song I still wanted the sound to be fresh and soulful.”