You know that feeling of hearing an artist’s new song and instantly knowing it’s your favorite thing they’ve ever done? You know that feeling of hearing an artist’s new song and instantly wanting to hear it again?
Anyway, here’s a new song (and video) from Caley Conway, “Path Of The Sun.” It’s the second of three songs that will make up a new EP. The first was called “I Love You So Much I Don’t Want To See You.” It, too, was great. Conway tells us this one is about “being a people-pleaser.” The video, she says, “was made largely in my bathroom.” It’s our favorite thing she’s ever done. We’ve been listening to it for days.
Any proceeds from “Path Of The Sun” (buy it HERE) will be “passed along to Minnesota Freedom Fund, with the hope to aid and amplify those demanding justice for Daunte Wright.” You can support Conway directly via her Patreon HERE.
We asked Conway about her new song, her new video, and her new EP. Oh, and Spotify. Here’s what she had to say:
THE SONG
Little known fact: I actually started writing this song something like seven or eight years ago. I just had the basic melodic and rhythmic ideas, and maybe the very first and very last lyric written. I took it to my band at the time, but always had an uncomfortable time trying to direct a song with them if I hadn’t finished it yet. Since the arrangement wasn’t clicking, I guess I just ditched it. I don’t like to force things like that. I don’t remember exactly what sentiment I was hoping to translate with it, at the time. Several years later I think I just picked it up again to see how it felt, and ended up crafting the lyrics around my frustration at being a people-pleaser in perpetual fear of letting others down. In the song, I’m able to project that aspect of my personality onto something as majestic and surefire as the sun, and imagine myself on the receiving end of her people-pleasing impulses.
THE VIDEO
Since making the video to accompany the first song, “I Love You So Much I Don’t Want To See You,” I had been eyeing up my shower curtain; growing curious about what textures might result from projecting imagery onto it, and posing behind it. These are the first and second videos I’ve ever made, so the process is mostly just me fumbling around with my camera until I find a concept that I think looks cool, and building it out from there. Then I drop the footage into Reaper and just try to use my gut about moments that naturally pair well with the music. This piece was more challenging than “I Love You So Much…” because it’s longer, slower, and slightly more somber. I couldn’t just have a bunch of scenes whizzing by at a rapid pace, like with the last song. Also, I learned how to cross-fade footage while making this one (lol), which opened up more editing options, which caused more indecision. I truly don’t know what I’m doing, but it’s a fun, right-brained process for me.
THE EP
The EP, which will be officially “out” on May 7 with the release of title track “Bliss Or Bust” (and video which I haven’t started on yet) has a bit of a “co-dependence” theme running through it. A lot of the stuff I’ve written lately does. It’s not exactly intentional, and I didn’t set out to write these three songs as a batch. Stylistically, I didn’t feel like they were fitting in all that well with the direction I was primarily headed with my music. They were feeling more folksy (they changed during the production process), almost like the next thing the Lucy Cukes would have done, had we stayed together. Suddenly one day it dawned on me that the perfect person to help me produce them would be my longtime friend James Paul Mitchell, who moved to Nashville several years ago and works as a touring and session guitarist. Though we did most of the recording in his basement, I figured we’d get a little bit of that Nashville flare infused into the songs, at least by proximity. Once I had that in mind as the concept, I could facilitate myself in getting them made.
SPOTIFY
I’m abstaining from releasing these songs on Spotify and the other mega streaming platforms. Currently taking what I call a “moral assessment” of them. I’m still trying to make them as accessible and convenient to consume as possible, though. Hence the music video initiative. Since my potential “reach” is much smaller, I’m trying to put more artistic gusto into the release.
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