It’s 2 a.m and you’re lying in bed staring at the ceiling. Thinking. Tossing. Turning. The tap is running in the bathroom but you are too exhausted to get up. You haven’t eaten in hours and your stomach is rumbling, but the thought of starving in the depths of darkness seems more comforting than getting up to face the lights in the kitchen peering into your soul.
It’s 3 a.m and you can’t sleep with all of the noise. The commotion that’s keeping you from sleeping isn’t the running water or your stomach. It’s coming from the unbearable noises replaying in your head. Memories of lost voices. Fighting them isn’t helping. So you decide to surrender.
Decompress.
You put on your headphones and allow your emotions to slowly melt into the melodies tickling your ears. Your heart stings as it beats in unison with the sounds you hear. You have come to accept, perhaps even appreciate, the bittersweet pangs that sterilize your open wounds.
The road to self-recovery has begun.
If music were medicine, DE{COM}PRESSED by Toronto’s Adria Kain would be the remedy for a broken soul. On DE{COM}PRESSED, Adria embarks on a painful, but beautiful, healing process. Adria narrates her journey in the purest of ways, exposing the deepest chambers of her feelings and breaking free from all of the chains that previously had her constrained to that same bed of torment.
With tenacious vocals that stay strong even when singing the most agonizing lyrics, DE{COM}PRESSED is a liberating project for the shattered heart. It is music for those who are tired of hiding their pain, and it is, undeniably, Adria’s most transparent and emotional work to date. It is not an EP that you can listen to in one go. You have to take your time to uncover the ingenious lyrics, intricately arranged symphonies, and the pristine flow of the project as it progresses from one song to the next.
The healing process begins with the celestial, “Nostalgic Garden”, a misty-eyed flashback to a time when things were simpler for Adria. Over chilled synths and pensive piano chords, Adria reminisces back to when pain seemed non-existent to her younger, innocent and untainted mind.
The journey then takes flight on “To Die in Love/Faded”. She thoughtfully questions why love can be so good, but leave so many unanswered questions, singing: “Close to you, you make me feel so alive, just like a firefly. So why am I contemplating suicide? It’s do or die. But I can’t mend this heart of mine. Hard to find wings to fly away.” The beat switches up as she sings about finding temporary comfort in drinking her woes away. If you weren’t attentive, you might think the song then switches the pace again for the third time, but it actually flows effortlessly into “Bridge”, a dark and hazy interlude that lets Adria’s voice float gently over the song’s smoke-filled ambiance.
The next stop is “Alone”, which is, in my opinion, the most transparent track on the project. Starting off with no background music and only the chilling echoes of her voice, Adria puts her pain into words: “I’ve never been so tired. Never felt so alone and afraid before. What am I doing wrong? This life that I was given has yet to provide a clear path that leads towards my purpose. I don’t know if I can wait much longer.” Speaking from a vulnerable place that many of us find ourselves in when life hands us the worst blows, it’s hard not to feel cold shudders throughout the song. Despite the uncertainty and doubts that “Alone” first starts off with, Adria later affirms, “When I hit the ground running they won’t know where to find me”.
The haze starts clearing up on the next song, “Something New”, an immaculate ballad of self-surrender. Adria’s voice drifts over sobbing strings the same way that a boat would glide over low tides as it sets sail for new land and new beginnings.
Unfortunately, the journey does come to an end, but it is a hopeful one. On “Running Away”, Adria comes to peace with the voices, trials, and pain that kept her in bondage, and encourages both herself and her listeners with these gentle words of enlightenment: “Wipe the tears from your face, and pour yourself an ocean. Easy to swim across to your fate.” The purity of Adria’s vocals are truly showcased on the song, as she sings prophetically over meek organs and passionate violins.
Immerse yourself in the reflective audio/visual for DE{COM}PRESSED below and share the project with someone who might find comfort in its therapeutic psalms.
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