Janice Mangion nearly won the Malta Eurovision Song Contest with Kewkba last year, topping Malta’s iTunes chart after the festival. While she did not participate in this year’s contest, Janice has followed up that 2017 favourite with Warda, a song dedicated to her mother.

“It has always been at the back of my mind to work on an original song which I could dedicate to her due to her continuous dedication throughout the years,” Janice said. “She never had an easy life, and she did everything in her capability to make sure that I am always happy. The love of a mother is something incredible, and as a result, I refer to her as a rose.”

Even though Janice did not appear at this year’s Malta Eurovision Song Contest, she’s had a busy 12 months. She took part in the Slaviansky Bazaar, the biggest musical festival in Eastern Europe, singing in Maltese, English and Russian. Her performances ended up with the young Maltese singer finishing among the top 10.

Warda debuted on One last night, but it’s only now been uploaded on social media. Written by Emil Calleja Bayliss and composed by Mark Scicluna and Cyprian Cassar, the track saw a collaboration between visual producer Matthew Muscat-Drago, and was recorded, producer and mixed by Cyprian Cassar at Somnio Recording Studios. The music video also features actresses Angele Galea and Eliana Gomez Blanco, who helped bring out the touching daughter-mother theme.

Janice had been teasing her new track for a couple of weeks now, taking fans behind the scenes of Warda’s music video filming at Buskett on cold January days. She even shared snaps from her photoshoot with photographer Kris Micallef, who was once again chosen for the track’s promo shots.

In an interview with Xarabank yesterday, Janice did not exclude the possibility of returning to the Malta Eurovision Song Contest next year.  “I’m not sure yet because I haven’t worked on any more new material,” the singer said, “but if I do have good material, then why not?”

Until then, however, her fans now have another track to perpetually listen to on repeat.

Tag a friend who’d love to check this out!

READ NEXT: LISTEN: ‘Kewkba’ Acapella Sounds Even More Haunting Than Before

David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).