featuring @leylasabomusic @thevoiceau @anuskaurrutiasabo
There are some performers who possess a natural ability that immediately demands attention. Then there are performers like Leyla Sabo, whose voice seems to belong to an artist far beyond her years. At just 12 years old when she stepped onto The Voice Australia stage, the Melbourne singer-songwriter faced four superstar coaches and a national television audience with a confidence and vocal maturity that made it impossible to simply focus on her age. What stood out was the voice — powerful, soulful and remarkably assured.
Leyla is, quite simply, remarkable.
Her appearance on The Voice Australia has introduced her to an even wider audience, but this is far from the beginning of her musical journey. Leyla has been performing for years and had already developed an impressive catalogue of original music before walking onto the Blind Auditions stage.
That experience is important because Leyla doesn’t perform like someone discovering the stage for the first time. There is a sense of purpose behind her performances — an understanding that singing isn’t simply about hitting the right notes, but about communicating something to the person listening.
And that is where her voice becomes particularly special.
Leyla has a soulful quality that gives her performances an emotional weight well beyond her years. Her musical influences include artists such as Adele, Aretha Franklin, Christina Aguilera, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, while her own music draws from pop, soul and blues. But perhaps the most exciting thing about Leyla is that she isn’t simply a singer. She’s a songwriter.
Her original music reveals an artist already interested in expressing her own experiences and emotions rather than relying solely on interpretations of other people’s songs. Her debut original release, “Hard To Breathe,” arrived when she was just 10, and she has continued developing her songwriting ever since. That creative ambition makes her The Voice Australia journey even more intriguing.
Leyla has spoken about wanting to create music that genuinely connects with people emotionally, with dreams of eventually performing her own songs around the world. It’s an ambitious dream, but listening to Leyla perform makes it easy to understand why she has it. There is an authenticity to her that can’t be manufactured. She isn’t simply trying to sound older than she is. Instead, she brings the emotional instincts of a young artist who already understands what music means to her.
Performing in front of a television audience and four established music stars would be enough to intimidate performers many times her age. Leyla, however, has already experienced performing for enormous audiences, including a performance at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena in front of approximately 10,000 people when she was 11. She later performed for an even larger crowd at Manningham Carols by Candlelight.
There is also something wonderfully refreshing about watching a young artist who clearly knows what she wants from music. Leyla has spoken openly about refusing to let assumptions about her age define what she can achieve, choosing instead to focus on developing her craft and letting her performances speak for themselves.
And perhaps that’s the best way to view Leyla Sabo. Not simply as The Voice Australia’s 12-year-old singer. But as an artist. Because while her age is naturally part of her story, it isn’t what makes her interesting. Her voice does.
Her ability to move between vulnerability and power, her instinct for soulful delivery and her desire to write music of her own all point towards an artist who is only beginning to discover just how far her talent can take her. At an age when many young performers are only beginning to discover their musical identity, Leyla Sabo is already building one.
And if her journey on The Voice Australia has shown audiences anything, it’s that remarkable voices don’t always come from the performers you expect. Sometimes they come from a 12-year-old girl who walks onto a stage, opens her mouth, and makes everyone stop and listen.
Leyla Sabo is one of those voices.
- Email: neill@outloudculture.com
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