Alexa Coonen Is Only Getting Started

Every so often, a song shows up that makes you stop what you’re doing.

For us, that song was “Half Gone.”

Alexa Coonen’s debut studio single completely blew us away the first time we heard it. There is something immediately striking about the way she balances softness with weight, building a song that feels intimate without ever becoming overly explained. At such an early point in her career, Alexa already has the kind of instinct that makes you want to pay attention to whatever comes next.

“Half Gone” has been living with her for years, long before it became the finished record it is now.

“It was the first song I wrote that I felt truly proud of,” Alexa tells Everyday Jams. “It feels like the beginning of the story, in a way.”

And honestly, it feels like a pretty incredible place to begin.

Finding “Half Gone”

The song grew out of Alexa’s grief after losing her mother.

She began sitting at her mother’s piano, writing melodies and recording pieces of music as a way of processing what she was feeling. Over time, those moments slowly started becoming songs.

“After losing her, I felt like a part of me had left abruptly too, both physically and emotionally,” Alexa says. “I think ‘Half Gone’ came from trying to make sense of that feeling, of still being here, but somehow feeling incomplete.”

Music became a way of staying close to her mother, who was also a singer, but it eventually became something else too.

“Looking back, I think music became a way for me to stay connected to her, but also a way to slowly find my way back to myself.”

That history gives “Half Gone” its emotional weight, but Alexa never overstates it. The song leaves room around the feeling.

“I don’t really like to literally explain the stories I’m telling,” she says. “I’d rather leave some mystery for people to wander off into and make their own assumptions.”

That restraint is part of what makes the track hit so hard.

Warm, Hazy and Alive

Sonically, “Half Gone” sits somewhere between indie soul, pop soul and something a little harder to pin down.

Alexa came into the song with four chords, a topline and lyrics before working with composer Rayan and producer Hedi to turn it into the final record. Vocals were layered almost instinctively in the studio, building harmonies and ad-libs around the lead until the song took on a completely different shape.

The piano remains at the center of it all.

“I really wanted to emphasize the piano, because it plays such an important part in the making of this song and in the story behind it,” Alexa explains. “I wanted the production to feel warm and alive, but still carry that slightly sad, hazy feeling that’s so important to the song.”

Guitar, bass, violins and live instrumentation give “Half Gone” that warmth without taking away from Alexa’s voice, which is easily one of the most exciting parts of the track.

There is restraint there too. She knows when to lean in and when to let the song sit quietly.

Taking Up Space

Alexa first started releasing music in 2025, but the artist behind “Half Gone” already feels different from the one who initially began putting songs online.

Those early releases were, in part, her testing the waters.

Now, she sounds much more certain.

“I’m so hungry for this life,” she says. “I find myself much more confident in what I do and much less afraid of taking up space as an artist.”

It is one of our favorite things about discovering an artist this early. You can hear the ambition before everything has been neatly mapped out.

Alexa is currently based in Paris, although she is already thinking about where else music might take her. She writes primarily in English and gravitates toward artists who leave their own kind of mystery behind, citing influences ranging from Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin and Amy Winehouse to Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish.

What connects all of it is emotion.

“If I can make someone feel something, then the mission is completed.”

An Artist to Watch

When Alexa describes what she hopes listeners understand about her through “Half Gone,” she lands on two things that seem to define her music already: softness and strength.

“I hope they’ll understand my fragility and my power at the same time,” she says. “I hope they get a sense that there’s both softness and a bit of fight in me.”

That contrast is exactly what makes “Half Gone” so compelling.

Alexa is still at the beginning. She is working on new singles, wants to spend more time performing live around Paris, and is letting whatever comes next take shape naturally. Those singles could eventually become an EP, or maybe something bigger.

She describes this chapter in one word: “Ravenous.”

“I want more. More music, more experiences, more risks, more feelings. I don’t really know where it’s all going yet, but I’m very hungry to find out.”

We are too.

Alexa Coonen is still incredibly early in her story, but “Half Gone” already feels like the work of an artist with a clear emotional instinct and a lot more waiting underneath the surface.

Stream “Half Gone” now, and keep Alexa Coonen close. She is absolutely an artist to watch.