It is surprising that a singer as clearly gifted as Amber Riley is only now releasing original music.

But one shan’t complain. New music is here and the artist in question now goes by the mononym RILEY. Her voice is front-and-centre on her minimalist piano ballad ‘A Moment’. Written by RILEY, Jordin Sparks, and Blush, there is a exhaustion and heaviness to the lyric as RILEY sings of her everyday battles with mental health. ‘Everybody thinks I’m okay / But don’t nobody know the way I’m really feeling / Only heaven knows that nothing hurts more than falling / When you think you’ve been climbing.‘

It is refreshing to hear such a vocally-driven piece. The minimalist arrangement is the perfect bedrock for RILEY’s pure and earnest delivery. Beginning soft and tender, she swells in tandem with the strings.

RILEY premiered the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live in tribute to her Glee co-star, the late Naya Rivera. See her performance below.