Brooklyn-based alt-pop/soul artist, Crystal Rose, is releasing her new EP, Anew, today and we are pretty smitten.
Delving into generational trauma, deep love, reflection, and mental health, Anew is emotionally charged as it is cathartic, making Rose a top contender for an artist you must watch in 2023!
We asked Crystal to share insight on each track off of Anew in this exclusive track-by-track commentary! Enjoy and don’t forget to listen to Anew below!
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“Thought I’d Say”
“Thought I’d Say” was the first song my collaborator, Emi Trevena, and I created for this project. It started out as an experiment of sorts; the chords and verses stemming from an old voice memo of mine, the lighthearted chorus written by Emi (Anew’s producer and co-songwriter), and the words written with a soft teasing and playfulness in mind. The old voice memo was from a ‘songwriting challenge’ that I did with some friends during the height of Covid times. The goal was to write songs without stopping to criticize or perfect them, but just let them flow and keep on going. Emi is a wonderful jazz guitarist who had been experimenting with various producing techniques, and when he heard the memo, he wrote the chorus and created a rough project outline. I recorded vocals from home, he recorded more instruments and produced it out, and we had “Thought I’d Say” done” in a matter of days! We wanted to keep on going with writing together.
“Falling Up”
“Falling Up” started as a haunting guitar piece that my collaborator Emi Trevena shared with me. Around the time he wrote it, a special young jazz musician in my Brooklyn community passed away. I began writing the lyrics and melodies while thinking of my friend who passed. The guitars, floating vocals, and cinematic arrangement create the essence of the story. My hope is that “Falling Up” will remind us all of our humanness.
“Working on Myself”
This song was created with the feeling of forward motion in mind and is an inner and outer conversation with the self. Emi sent over a loop to me that I fell enamored with. I freestyled some ideas and verses (early morning memos into my iPhone GarageBand) and sent them over to him. We settled on what felt most natural. When I was recording the vocals in my room, I felt like I was having an intimate, journal-like conversation with myself, and listening back. I like to think that the introspective quality of my vocal here reflects that. In the “Working on Myself” music video (directed and shot by Margot Bennett and Omer Berger) three women (myself and my two friends Judette Elliston and Roslyn Catubig) take personal journeys of self-reflection and observation. Our paths end up converging in a cave-like living space, where we all engage in self “work” together. All three of us come from the parents of immigrants and live with our own mental health struggles. We also all carry lived and generational trauma with us that we are learning to unpack, reflect upon, and heal from.
“Break”
When I wrote “Break,” it was the first time I had felt my heart aching completely. I was in my last semester of college when this song spilled out; the first two chords (played on guitar) propelling its entirety. I first shared “Break” with a small group of friends who performed it with me in 2019, adding their beautiful voices in harmony. Thanks to Emi’s sensitive production senses, “Break” has now come to its full form on this record, with verbed out minimalist drums, cinematic instrumentation, and raw vocals. It’s really a special one to me. I love ballads, singing them, writing them, experiencing them. My performance in “Break” also feels like an expression of my adoration for an honest and real ballad.
A little side tidbit…
Emi and I wrote two other pieces that were going to be included in this release. One in particular was scheduled to be released with this project until a few weeks ago! I am so thankful that during this release time, I have learned more about myself and some creative elements that seem essential to my expression. Emi and I both agree, these four songs are meant to be shared together, it just feels right.
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