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| Photo by Elizabeth Miranda |
Los Angeles-based artist TRACE has just unleashed her magical sophomore EP Like Hell. The release features six stunning tracks that reflect on where she is at in life. TRACE continues to refine her craft and find her voice and her sophomore offering showcases the ways she has grown as an artist. To celebrate its release, she takes us through the influences behind it below.
Paris
Paris is my favorite city. I try to visit often and the last time I did was naturally inspired and it was right before I was really in the thick of my EP. I knew it was going to be a fall release and so I knew wanted to project a more “fall-like” than summery and energetic (with the exception of 'Crushing' of course) vibe. There’s a lot of nostalgia and a slight sense of arrogance too that play a big part in the writing and so in a way, I not only love Paris, it deeply influences my writing.
Reevaluating Friendships
The first single 'All My Friends' was hard to release because it addressed something I didn’t want to admit. That people change, but more importantly that I changed and sometimes you have to let go of some friendships because they don’t feel life-giving or mutually cohesive anymore. It’s been sad but good. I guess it’s also called “getting older.”
Petra Collins’ “A Love Story”
'All My Friends' visually was inspired by this short video she did for Selena Gomez. It has a moody, hazy, kind of odd vibe that I really love. I usually put a lot of stress on how I’m going to present myself/work aesthetically and remember wanting to be somewhere in the vain of like if Petra Collins liked primary colors and did a video for Gucci in 1999...
My Childhood
Kind of casually traumatic but I was really moved to face some real bruises in my past life. I revisited my childhood and the memories I usually skim through so often and ended up writing a song about my relationship with my dad which really sparked the overall theme of my EP. I have a couple of songs on the record that really set the tone for the EP title track. Calling it “Like Hell” means I’m no longer interested in holding onto people, ideals, dreams, etc. that don’t belong to me.
Listen to Like Hell by TRACE below:
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