“I wrote and recorded ‘Hypersensitivity during the height of the COVID-19 quarantine,” Ariel Gold says when discussing her recent release.
During a year that has forced isolation amidst a global pandemic, people have coped in different ways. Some take the time to refamiliarize themselves with who they actually are, others have taken the time to reconnect with family and friends through FaceTime and Zoom calls. There are those who did nothing and those who tried to use the time at home to be productive like by baking banana bread – or if you’re like Taylor Swift and now Ariel Gold, you create music.
For the Canadian singer-songwriter, ‘Hypersensitivity’ was a way to manage the yearning for being out with friends or what normal life was like back in 2019.
“It’s a lament for experiences outside the realm of isolation,” Ariel says. She hopes that audiences can connect with the dreams that the song’s lyrics hold. “I hope my listeners can get some solace and find some community in hearing how this experience of the lockdown has been real and happening to all of us,” she continues.
Her song, in a sense, can be a lifeline for listeners if they need it. “I hope we can stay strong and ride this out together while staying connected digitally,” says Ariel. “Online music is a place we can hopefully find that connection.”
Describing the song, the singer-songwriter says of it, “‘Hypersensitivity’ has a gushing, cascading melody to me.” Her voice flows from line to line like a water heading downstream. Listeners can feel the way the lyrics wash over their ears and how her voice holds a light, airy essence to it. Revealing a trick for the song, she says, “I had to record it in parts because the verses come and go so quickly.”
There’s no hesitation when the topic of the song’s inspiration comes up.
“This song is inspired by and written for the feminine energy in all of us,” she says. Ariel encompasses that through her haunting vocals and upbeat sound. Her favorite lyric from the song is the line, ‘So take me down to the place that you always wanna go when you’re stuck at home’.
I wrote and recorded ‘Hypersensitivity during the height of the COVID-19 quarantine.
That lyric in particular is one she feels will resonate with audiences. “I think we all dreamt of one particular place we would go or thing we would do during lockdown. This was an invitation to share that dream,” she explains.
Comparing ‘Hypersensitivity’ to her previous songs, Ariel feels like it offers a different sound than what listeners may be used to. “‘Hypersensitivity’ is absolutely a little more of an upbeat, full sound than my other, more stripped-down songs,” the singer-songwriter says. Even more so, it shows how her music has evolved as she has gained more life experience.
“It’s absolutely an evolution from my more folky past music,” she agrees. “I went out on a limb and tried something new. I always try to do that.”
Ariel makes it simple and straight to the point when talking about the songwriting process for the song. She explains how she made the underlying beat on logic first before trying out a few different melodies. “Then I found one I like and wrote lyrics to it,” she states.
Her inspiration for her songs vary depending on what she is going through or feeling. “My biggest inspiration usually comes from my feelings about whatever crush or relationship I am in at the time, whoever that may be,” shares Ariel. However, things aren’t always so clear cut. “Sometimes I have both those things going at the same time.”
The Canadian singer-songwriter continues, “Songwriting is a purely emotional language for me. I usually draw inspiration from a muse, someone in my life.”
For Ariel, she makes sure that the look of her song covers is just as important, and just as much of an experience, as the sound.
“I wanted to find a way to equally showcase my paintings and my music,” she says of how her Spotify covers resemble an art galley on her profile page. “All my creations are like my babies. I try to give them equal time, opportunities, and attention. I’ve been very inspired by album covers of different artists over the years. They stick with me.”
May we all lift each other up!
According to the singer-songwriter, her music and her art have a synesthetic connection to her, referring to synesthesia which is a phenomenon in which one sense’s stimulation triggers a second sense’s cognitive pathway.
“When I record a song and go to paint or create the visuals for it after, I sort of ask the song what it wants. It usually answers me in colors.” Ariel shares, “I have a song called ‘blue’ that’s actually about painting. And I have an album cover that I painted for that song.”
She contemplates before adding, “I guess in a way it’s cyclical.”
Ariel’s connection to music stems from childhood. “I began classical cello training very young,” she reveals before continuing, “but taught myself singing, songwriting, guitar, and piano when I was a teenager.”
She reasons this by saying, “I just wanted to connect with the music I was listening to and playing covers was my favorite way I found to do that.”
To this day, Ariel still plays cello, guitar, and piano, though she admits that she’s not as good at the latter. “When I was in high school, I also tried to learn the erhu and the banjo for a bit,” she confesses.
The act of songwriting came along the way as well. “I use my songwriting as a way to heal and stay in touch with my innermost feelings,” Ariel says. “In a way, it’s my therapy – I can’t go without it.”
Going forward with her career, Ariel has many things she hopes to accomplish over the next year. “I would like to continue to expand my body of work and release my EP Liftoff that I recorded live with a string quartet.” She proudly states, “It’s my masterpiece.”
She also has collaborations in the future as well. Currently planning one with contemporary dancer Zoë Vos, she shares what drew her to do a collaboration like this.
“I like to collaborate with my friends and close community, the people around me. May we all lift each other up!!”
With that in mind, Ariel does tease a bit of what’s to come. She says, “We can look forward to the release of my Liftoff EP, and my next single, ‘Acid Rose’!”
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Be sure to check out ‘Hypersensitivity’ here!
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