Some songs land softly and still leave a mark. That’s exactly what happens with “Don’t Lie To Me”, the latest single from San Francisco singer-songwriter Michellar, the musical alias of Michelle Bond. Released on May 15, 2026, the track follows her debut full-length record, Reverie… From Then Till Now, and it carries the same honesty and warmth that has been winning her fans one careful listen at a time. The song does what good songwriting is supposed to do: it names the feeling before you’ve had a chance to put words to it yourself. At its core, “Don’t Lie To Me” is a plea for the one thing that holds any relationship together, which is truth. Michellar delivers that message without drama or theatrics, with a clear, steady voice and lyrics that feel as if they were written in a quiet room at the end of a long day. Her vocal performance is understated in the best way, the kind that doesn’t try to impress you but ends up doing exactly that. Personally, this track hit close to home. There’s a maturity and an emotional directness here that you don’t often come across, and it made me want to sit with it longer than most new releases do.
Bond’s story adds another layer to everything she puts out. She wrote her first songs at 15, then stepped away from music for four decades, building a life around garden design and visual art in the Bay Area. It was her acceptance into San Francisco’s de Young Museum Open Exhibition in 2023 that brought the songwriter back to the surface. Since then, she’s been playing open mics around her neighborhood, collaborating with fellow artists, and releasing music with a consistency that would impress someone half her age. Her Spotify audience has grown past 23,000 monthly listeners, and it’s not hard to see why. The catalog she’s built, from “Warrior” to “Deny Me No More” to this new single, reads like a creative homecoming that just keeps getting better. Drawing on the songwriting traditions of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Carole King, Michellar moves comfortably across folk, pop, and atmospheric country without ever losing the thread of what makes her distinct. Her influences are audible but never imitated. “Don’t Lie To Me” fits naturally into that space while feeling like a step forward, a little sharper, a little more assured.
If you haven’t spent time with Michellar’s music yet, “Don’t Lie To Me” is a good place to start, and a hard one to stop at. Follow her on Spotify, Apple Music, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to catch every new release as it comes out. Her debut album Reverie… From Then Till Now is well worth your full attention, and with an upcoming acoustic EP titled Homegrown also on the way, there’s plenty more coming from one of indie folk’s most genuine voices right now. Add “Don’t Lie To Me” to your playlist today. You’ll be glad it’s there.
