LOS ANGELES, CA- Sabrina Sterling has always had a gift for making vulnerability feel like a superpower. But on her new single “Ramona,” the rising singer-songwriter taps into something even deeper: a grounded fury, a mature strength, and a self-assurance that marks her evolution into a songwriter with both emotional depth and creative clarity.
Released via Columbia Records and serving as the title track for her upcoming debut EP (due August 15), “Ramona” shows a side of Sabrina I haven’t seen before. Sterling at her most powerful. Inspired by her decision to cut ties with her father at age 13, the song unfolds as a searing letter of closure—unflinching, raw, and ultimately liberating. “Bet you never thought I’d actually leave this place,” she sings in the opening verse, her voice steady with clarity. But it’s in the bridge where Sterling wields her sharpest blade: “Blood doesn’t even mean a thing / When mine is the only one / Spillin’ over wooden floors.” It moves beyond release into direct confrontation.
The track’s namesake is no metaphor. Ramona is the small California town where her estranged father now resides. It is a real place that becomes the symbolic graveyard of broken family ties. What could have easily turned into melodrama is elevated by Sterling’s restraint. The instrumentation is taut, letting her voice do the emotional heavy lifting. And for longtime fans like myself who have followed her journey from early singles like “Bittersweet” and “Love Me That Way”, “Ramona” feels like an evolution. The tenderness is still there, but it’s now met with a clarity of purpose.
Sterling’s vocal performance on the recording is particularly striking. In past tracks, she’s made us ache with empathy. Here, she sounds unshakable. Fierce but controlled. Weary but firm. There’s real independence in her tone, and the delivery carries a kind of wisdom rarely heard from a 20-year-old. It’s the sound of someone who has taken the long road through pain and come out the other side standing tall.
The accompanying video, directed by Moldyroom, matches the song’s emotional intensity. It finds Sterling wandering a vintage living room filled with relics of her past, quietly sifting through memories, deciding what to keep and what to finally release. It’s intimate, cinematic, and a perfect visual metaphor for the transformation she’s undergoing.
Even before its release, “Ramona” had already begun to resonate online, racking up over a million views from a live version shared on TikTok during her tour with Lyn Lapid. The comments section has turned into something of a support group, with listeners sharing their own stories of family estrangement. That organic response speaks to Sterling’s unique ability to create songs that don’t just tell her story, but also makes space for others to tell theirs.
Sterling will be performing “Ramona” and more new material at Hotel Café on July 29 as part of the “Not Another Showcase” series. For fans in Los Angeles, it’s a chance to see a young artist who is clearly coming into her own—on her own terms.
