I took the lead role of producer directing my long term musical collaborator James Mangohig and my touring band of two and a half years – the powerhouse brother production team “SixFour” aka John and Paul Bartlett. James, John and Paul’s musical genius compliments my cross-genre sensibilities to create the warm, unique and authentic songs you hear on Dust (Part 1). Working closely with the incredible Grammy-nominated mix engineer Tony Espie, I was also able to achieve the sonics that I imagined the world hearing. Each song was topped off with renowned mastering engineer Joe LaPorta’s warm, NYC soaked masters.
Gone
Gone is my rebirth song. For something to be born, something needs to die. All the experiences that led to that point in time of writing Gone needed to be honoured and killed off in order for me to be reborn. Feeling the pressures of being defined by society, all I wanted to do was run for freedom. Run into the nature that birthed us all. Run into the unknown knowing full well how vulnerable and challenging the journey would be.
Gasoline
A defiant song of independence and strength, Gasoline was inspired in haze, manifesting in an anthem dedicated to all who have experienced any degree of gaslighting or harassment. It’s reflective in emotion; lyrically, sonically and visually. I feel vocally strong and on fire when I sing this song live.
Saint
Showcasing my love of production, Saint is musically and sonically “the most of me”. You can hear my influences filtering through my lens of experience and passion. I flex with my vocal performance, harmonies and vocal arrangements on Saint and I have been told that "the lyrics get under your skin". It’s a song written for me and for anyone recognising their strengths, weaknesses and ultimately, resilience. It’s about using one’s power to be at peace with the balance within themselves and being unashamedly vulnerable and proud of that. “I’m one, I’m all”.
Enough
To bring the four-part journey to a close, Enough is about my experience with acceptance. Accepting that no matter what or how I feel my existence to be, I am enough. Through my journey, I have personally deduced that we are all an extension of the earth and a miraculous combination of energy that exists to be; to experience. The pain is worth it all, the joy is worth it all. The production is emotional, powerful and uplifting.
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Dust (Part 1) is out now.
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