PITTSBURGH — Anyah Nancy always dreamed of making an album.

Now, the artist who embodies the ultimate chill girl aesthetic is living that dream, with the debut of her album "Sounds Like Honey." Since its release in November, Nancy has seen an outpouring of support and new opportunities, including monthly billing at Con Alma, with her next performance set for Feb.15.

The album serves as a vocal documentary of her life and where she is at this moment. But beyond that, it is raw, honest and intentional, the type of record listeners can return to again and again.

Her voice is dazzling, with a depth and a peaceful jazziness that comes from something deeply personal, a passion that exists without abandon.

"My biggest goal is to continue to be honest about who I am and the stories that I have experienced and want to tell," said Nancy, 25.

A few days after her first performance of the year at Con Alma, she sits dressed in what she calls her uniform: a cozy hoodie, sweatpants and a sleek, slicked-back bun.

The look reflects how she wants listeners to connect with her music — peaceful, relaxed and chill. She imagines someone listening to "Sounds like Honey" during ordinary moments, while sipping a cup of coffee, easing into a slow morning or driving through the city.

"My music represents the world I would like to live in and gives you space to think," she said. "Very easy, slow, calming, not too much. Makes you think, gives you permission to be human, to feel."

As a Pittsburgher, Nancy feels embraced by the city. Her favorite local spots include Highland Park, The Butterwood Bake Consortium in Lawrenceville and of course, Con Alma in Downtown.

As an independent artist, Nancy holds full creative autonomy over her album, which took her two and a half years to complete. She is credited as lyricist, songwriter and executive producer. Someone once told her that her voice sounded like honey, a phrase that sparked her imagination and inspired the album's title.

She wanted it to feel like a warm fireplace, taste like a cup of coffee and smell like a warm vanilla tobacco candle.

That sensory intention carries into her performances. When Nancy begins her sets, she often opens with "Everything" by gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds.

"It's a pretty jazzy song and I start out a lot of sets that way because I think it introduces who I am pretty well," she said.

"Yes, I love jazz, yes, we're about to have fun, but let me be straight up with you: I love Jesus," she said.

Her album opens similarly. The first track, "Mama Said," introduces her story and where she was at the start of the project.

"I was kinda frustrated and remembering as a child what my elders were telling me, that life would be hard ... and I didn't think they actually meant that it would be this hard."

The song invites listeners into her relationship with God, a theme that runs throughout the album. On "Pure," which she co-wrote with her brother, Kaleb Jackson, and features whistling by her godmother, Kelli Kinney Brownlee, Nancy paints a dreamy, imaginative scene under moonlight and stars as her voice gradually builds.

"I find almost everything about Anyah to be inspiring," said Brownlee, 48, pastor of Story Collective Church in Bloomfield.

"When it came to putting this album together, there were things she didn't want to rely on someone else for. I've been inspired to evaluate how well I'm stewarding my own gifts and acknowledge areas in which I've made small of myself."

Brownlee and Nancy met in 2022 over Thai food.

"When Anyah mentioned me whistling on the album, I thought she was joking," Brownlee said. "But it added something undeniable to the song. It's truly an honor to have a front row seat to her creative genius."

Brownlee says the intentionality with which Nancy pursues God, creates with wonder and lives with curiosity is motivating.

Nancy said that curiosity has always been part of her. "I grew up very curious but also willing to find out," she said.

She was raised in Pittsburgh's East End and eastern suburbs, primarily Swissvale.

"Pittsburgh is a really interesting place and I think there is a lot of opportunity to become whoever you want to," she said. "If you can afford to live, then you can almost afford to dream."

She draws inspiration from the city's jazz history, particularly the Hill District.

"I would hear about how amazing it was ... to play and hear jazz music. It's something that you can feel if you're paying attention," she said.

She attended Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12 for high school.

"I experienced the arts in a way that I would not have otherwise," she said.

Nancy describes her upbringing as deeply communal, shaped by family, mentors, family friends, community centers and her church.

Her father, originally from Philadelphia, introduced her and her brother to a wide range of music. At home, they listened to Sade, Teena Marie, Jill Scott and India.Arie along with hip-hop and rap. Thanks to her mother, gospel music filled the house.

"We got this good mix of it all. That is why my music has shaped itself into a soulful, jazz, faith-forward kind of vibe," Nancy said.

Jackson, 22, now a student at the University of Pittsburgh, calls his sister his best friend.

"It was so easy, just as simple as having a conversation with my sister to make a song," he said.

That closeness shaped "Pure," which began with a few chords and a melody.

"The rest was Anyah's creativity being brought into it," he said. "Maybe I laid some blueprints ... to get from where we started to her adding the whistling. It sounds absolutely amazing."

When Nancy considers the lyrics of a song like "Autumn Blues," she traces the influence of greats like Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.

"They are still some of my biggest inspirations because of how free and raw they were, how they put their experiences into the DNA of what they were singing.

"You can listen to Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and you're like 'Yo, who is she talking to?' I just loved it. It gave me permission to be a woman like that."

While attending Temple University in Philadelphia, Nancy explored the surrounding neighborhoods. Her father often took her and her brother through areas he grew up in, encouraging them to knock on doors and learn about their family's history. She ended up doing that during her time in college.

She describes growing up with freedom and what she calls healthy boundaries.

"My dad always encouraged us to be ourselves and to figure out what that was and whoever that was in the moment, stand 10 toes down on who that is," she said. "Don't front and act like you are somebody that you don't believe you are."

She spends her free time serving her church and her family. Her faith anchors her life.

"Timing" is the last song she wrote on the album, "like it is all in God's timing," she said.

"Take a chance. It can happen to anybody if you work hard, if you believe in yourself and trust in the Lord.... That is just how I live my life."

Most recently, in a series she started weekly on social media, she shares her singing, something she was initially hesitant to do because she is a private person.

The videos feature her singing on a red rug with headphones, listening to her records and singing covers, something she was doing long before her ascent into the spotlight.

She is now working in partnership with Attic Records in Millvale. That was an opportunity that came from her philosophy of knocking on doors and letting people know what she was doing.

"When I first started writing the album, a lot of things were sounding too R&B," Nancy said.

That may have been because she reached out to producers, who kept giving her beats. She knew intuitively those sounds were not her.

She turned to composer and co-producer Owen Dougan-Bacha, sharing her songs, ideas and voice memos that were later shaped for live arrangement.

The album is jazz, though tracks like the single "Count With Me" stretch beyond traditional jazz.

"It still felt right to me. It felt like me," Nancy said. "I want people to hear the album and say, 'Oh that's Anyah.'"

After her February show at Con Alma, Nancy plans to take part in a few festivals in the spring and market "Sounds Like Honey" merchandise.

Jackson reflected on his sister's growth.

"Letting Anyah just do her and be who she is incredible," he said. "People will love her for who she is."

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