Chief Cleopatra – Friends (Park The Van Records)
Ahead of a new EP due in early 2022 Chief Cleopatra signs to Park The Van Records and releases genre-bending single Friends.
Artist: Chief Cleopatra
Track: Friends
Label: Park The Van Records
Released: 21 September 2021
Find it: Spotify
There is something about the end of a friendship which hits differently. The slow drift apart through and life and becoming your own people can bring the ache of growing pains, but to find yourself cut from a life you’d aligned yourself closely to…yeah, that’s a visceral grief all of its own.
But as with all grief you can learn to build your life back up around it, you put your heart back together with streaks of gold, and with the caution that comes with the experience you push forward, changed but not defeated. It’s this that shines through the sliding riffs and subtle beats of Chief Cleopatra single Friends, soulful vocals dripping with wisdom as the song shows you how to hold the higher ground.
‘Keep my head high and my eyes low to the ground / So I know who’s around to push me down’
Of the track Chief Cleopatra said, “I wrote Friends back in 2013 while living in San Marcos, TX. I had access to this really cool keyboard that my ex let me use, and I would sit there for hours and just work on my craft of composing and storytelling. That was a really creative time for me, I wrote a lot of songs in that space, and Friends was a special one that stuck with me.
“The song was inspired by a friendship I had for 10+ years, and at some point, this person just up and left me. They had no remorse about it either, and that truly hurt me at the time. I feel like everyone has had that type of relationship at one point or another that can really make you question loyalty.
“Being able to write about my own experiences is, in a way, my own self-therapy. Sometimes the vibe is happy, sometimes sad, but it’s all healing.”
Now signed to Park The Van Records and with EP Luna slated for an early 2022 release Chief Cleopatra is building a fine empire on the foundations she’s laid. With Friends she introduces us to her genre-bending blend of skills and shows that even the bitter taste of betrayal can be delivered with sweetness.
Friends by Chief Cleopatra is out now on Park the Van Records. EP Luna is due for release in early 2022.
Find Chief Cleopatra: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
Image by: Ismael Quintanilla III
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Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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