They stayed silent to save the friendship… but the silence is what destroyed it.
Coming June 6…
“Charades” captures two best friends stuck between what they feel and what they’re too afraid to admit. In trying to protect what they have, they say nothing, dodging the truth, playing it safe, and slowly falling apart anyway. It’s the realization that silence doesn’t save you… it just breaks you more quietly.
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[people]
“I wrote ‘Charades’ the moment I realized that staying silent wasn’t protecting anything, it was slowly breaking us. We kept dancing around the truth, convincing ourselves that if we didn’t say it out loud, we could keep what we had. But the tension, the almost-moments, the things sitting on the tip of our tongues started to eat away at the friendship anyway. At some point, I understood that we were going to lose it either way, and I’d rather lose it by being honest than lose it pretending I didn’t feel anything. This song is that exact moment, when fear loses to truth, even if the outcome isn’t what you hoped for.
I think a lot of people know what it feels like to live in that in-between space, where something real is there but no one wants to be the one to risk it. You tell yourself you’re being careful, that you’re preserving something good, but really you’re just slowly hurting yourself by holding it in. My hope is that this song helps people feel seen in that tension, but also challenges them. Because sometimes the thing that feels the scariest to say is the thing that will actually set you free, no matter how it turns out. Silence feels safe, but it comes at a cost.”
Tzayla
[People]
“‘Charades’ is the second single off my album Paris of the East, a project that follows my real journey through Europe and everything I felt along the way, from falling in love to losing it to finding myself again. As I’m writing this, I’m in Nashville finishing the last few songs on the album, and instead of feeling sad that it’s coming to an end, I’m honestly just excited. Excited to watch this whole story unfold, to bring these songs to life through more music videos like this one, and to keep building toward my Paris of the East tour in 2027. This project is bigger than just music to me. It’s a shared experience, and we’re just getting started.
“I’m also really excited for what comes next. For the rest of the singles on this album to come out, for the full project to finally be heard in its entirety, and for people to keep stepping into this world with me as it keeps unfolding. And ultimately, I don’t regret a thing. I said what I felt. I chose honesty over silence. And at the end of the day, how I feel shouldn’t be dependent on how someone else feels about it. That goes for me, and it goes for everyone else too.”
Tzayla
Tzayla after running in the rain on the night she realized why guys and girls can’t be friends
“If you like someone, tell them. Don’t be afraid. Don’t apologize for it. Don’t shrink yourself to make the outcome easier to swallow. And most importantly, don’t let someone else’s response convince you that you’re not good enough. You are good enough. I’ve always believed that boldness gets rewarded in some form, even if it doesn’t look the way you expected. In this case, the reward wasn’t the outcome I thought it might be, but it became this song, this growth, and this new chapter of my career. So don’t be afraid to say how you feel.”
Tzayla
Special thanks to:
Mia Katja
Conner Fisher
dallas jack
bobby riesco
vivian blank
Matt Wagner
anja blank
Tzayla 