Artist
Calvin Harris Feat. Ayah Marar
Why we feature this artist A clear vocal line through a crowded album of guests “Thinking About You” gives Ayah Marar’s singing a bright, flowing place within Calvin Harris’s 18 Months. The recording first appeared on the 2012 album before receiving its own si…
- From
- United Kingdom, Jordan
- Sound
- Dance-pop, electronic
Start with the music
Tracks to explore
The artist, in context
The story of Calvin Harris Feat. Ayah Marar
Why we feature this artist
A clear vocal line through a crowded album of guests
“Thinking About You” gives Ayah Marar’s singing a bright, flowing place within Calvin Harris’s 18 Months. The recording first appeared on the 2012 album before receiving its own single campaign in 2013. It has the broad melodic outline of the album’s most outward-facing pop, but Marar’s phrasing gives the track a distinct, warm centre.
Writing and performance together
The original Columbia credits identify Marar as both vocalist and writer, with Harris producing and arranging the recording. Her role therefore belongs to the song’s construction as well as the finished performance. The melody feels designed to carry feeling through the larger electronic passages.
18 Months brings many featured voices into Harris’s production. This collaboration stands out through the ease of its movement: the sung lines have room to develop, and the instrumental maintains a clear current beneath them without obscuring the performance.
A refrain with room to breathe
The arrangement can become dense, but the vocal line remains legible. Marar’s delivery gives shape to the space between the rhythmic peaks, allowing a sustained phrase to feel like a change in scale rather than a pause in the track’s momentum.
That balance helps the recording work both as part of the album and as a separate single. It shares Harris’s larger production vocabulary while retaining an individual vocal character. “Thinking About You” is a good place to hear how a featured singer can give continuity to a song even when the instrumental keeps withdrawing, returning and opening out around her.
Essential releases
18 Months
The album introduces the Ayah Marar collaboration alongside Harris’s wider guest-led recordings.
Thinking About You
The later single campaign places Marar’s performance at the centre of its own release.