Pop singer-songwriter Mali’s music is good for the soul. The Chennai-raised, Mumbai-based artist is frequently deeply introspective, penning tunes about crucial decisions, love, loss and navigating life. But she’s not always so serious, as she shows us with her Apple Music Home Session. Here, Mali—born Maalavika Manoj—breaks down her songs to their bare essentials, covering difficult dilemmas and desperation while also remembering to have plenty of fun. The musician tells Apple Music that “Absolute” is a song she will “always resonate with” and one she will “always be proud of”. “It’s that feeling of hopelessness,” she says, “of powerful people taking advantage of their positions to subjugate ordinary people. It’s so unfair yet universal and timeless.” Mali then juxtaposes youthful optimism with matured temperance on “Mundane”, which she wrote when she was “at a crossroads” in her life. “I was taking a gap year from studying business and contemplating what kind of career I’d like to have—the straight and narrow or something wild and unpredictable like being an artist,” she says. “No points for guessing which one I ultimately chose.” While “Absolute” and “Mundane” are full of serious messages, Mali chooses an ’80s classic for her final Home Session track that over the decades has become synonymous with fun—and more recently with an infamous meme. Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, which Mali calls “a great pop song”, transforms into a dreamy, smooth ride in her hands. “I wanted to cover a classic which had some pop-culture cred,” she says. “I remember a time on social media when this song was having a moment and everyone was getting ‘rickrolled’. I wanted to bring it back in my own fashion.”