Mia Jae is a new school woman with an old school soul, describing her music as moody R&B with an edge. Born and bred in Harlem, the neo-soul songstress has been singing for as long as she’s been able to talk, and received classical and musical theater training from local New York powerhouses throughout her upbringing. In a world where everything is moving so fast and we are all rushing through the motions—Mia Jae wants to give you music that makes you stop and feel.

Midnight in Monte Carlo’s silky lounge sonics paint Mia Jae’s latest musical canvas in velvet and red wine. Perfectly infusing the vintage sounds of the 70’s with modern lyrical content that transports you straight into a European noir utopia, MIMC is Mia Jae at her finest.

The follow-up to 2020’s Couples Therapy, her new project taps up-and-coming producer ALOOF, for a 7-track sampling that weaves a tale of moving on from relationships, but ultimately ending up right back in the same toxic cycle. Attempting to enter into her “healing-era,” Midnight in Monte Carlo was born from a 2021 trip Mia took to Italy, Monaco, and the south of France, where she found herself in new and beautiful surroundings but still feeling the melancholy of dealing with unfulfilling relationships. Fueled by the sounds and energy of the cities she visited, she took that inspiration back to Brooklyn, for long studio nights finding the perfect songs to make up the next chapter of Mia Jae.

While Couples Therapy served quite literally as a therapy session for Mia, MIMC was meant to show what comes next and what’s changed. In writing the project though, Mia discovered that as cliche as it is, even though so much had changed and she’d grown as a person - a lot had stayed the same and love remained unpredictable.

A two-part conceptual project that ultimately finds Mia navigating the stages of grief that come from failed relationships, Midnight in Monte Carlo is Mia’s lyrical ode to giving yourself grace to make mistakes. With each song evoking a different emotion and showing that healing is not always linear, Mia starts the album with the ironic opener and lead single, “I’m ‘Okay’ Now,” poking fun at the idea that she’s supposed to be okay after all this time, but in reality, are we ever really “okay”?” The turning point in the album comes with the “Blocking You” interlude, representative of the attempt to move past all the bullsh*t, but ultimately culminating in a return to old habits, as the album finishes out with “Til You,” a song whose lyrics tie the whole idea together with Mia proclaiming “I was over you til you walked in the room.” Incorporating acoustic guitar, horns, and even a flair of Spanish guitar in some instances, MIMC takes listeners through learning that frankly, men ain’t sh*t, to accepting that you might have to move on, and just letting all the emotions out on the table.