It’s easy to get caught in the waves of life’s oceans. All you really have to do to get out of it is remember how to swim– kick your legs and propel yourself back to land. Yet, we tend to get caught in the tumult anyways, and Alicia Campbell’s debut single “Floating out of Water” is a quiet conversation on how we float out into that watery body, becoming stuck in the uncertain spaces between figuring out our own identities and being the person we want to be. With loving guitar and tender piano, this track is a tender and earnest take on our journeys toward discovering ourselves. The waters might be rough, but we’ll get there eventually. To learn how to swim, we first have to take those initial steps into the water and learn how to float.
If you like Phoebe Bridgers, indie folk, or any other sound in either of those veins, you’re going to adore “Floating out of Water”. I know I did the moment I heard the first beat, listening to this shy guitar slowly gathering its confidence in the gentle minutes the track plays. The instrumentals aren’t very crowded– in fact, they’re fairly sparse, with a guitar, light percussion, and piano– but I felt that this little fact added so much to the song’s overall message. There’s a solitude, almost loneliness, that follows the lyrics. Considering
that the track is about not knowing who you are, and the beginnings of floating away due to it, it is a rather apt way to illustrate that isolated feeling we get when we’re not sure who or what we’re meant to be. Campbell’s vocals help to enhance this as well, twining the soundscape together with her soft and melodic voice. I think we’ve all been through either losing our identity, or not knowing it in the first place, which makes “Floating out of Water” a track that will make you feel connected, seen. There’s a line that goes, “It’s not me but it’s who I’m wanting to be / Is she there? She’s calling me”, and you can really feel the echoes of the narrator’s voice, wondering where her sense of self is, calling out to her. I loved how the song ended with this gradual swell of the instrumentals, before cutting out entirely; such a poetic way to end the track, as if to say that we will stop floating away eventually to find our footing.
Alicia Campbell is an actor, singer, and songwriter. Inspired by nature and moments both beautiful and bittersweet, Campbell’s burgeoning musical career is influenced by these soft feelings. Her style is a combination between folk, indie, and pop, culminating in soundscapes that are reminiscent of artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, The Staves, and Jasmine Jethwa. In addition to her solo music, she has also created Savana Glacial’s pre-show music for New York’s 2019 Fringe Festival, as well as working in collaboration with "Postcards from Invisible Journeys" for their audio art piece "This too is an experience of the heart" to create the accompanying music. “Floating out of Water” is her debut single, released October of this year. Following that is her debut EP “Bathing in Watercolor”, of which “Floating out of Water” is the first track. For those who like that relaxing folksy style, you’ll definitely want to keep an eye on Alicia Campbell!
Written By Alexa Leung
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