Premiere: Dwelling in Depths of Albert Kass’ “Shallow Sea”

Albert Kass
Albert Kass’ haunting “Shallow Sea” resonates with emotional depth in its heartwrenching submission to loneliness and longing.
Stream: “Shallow Sea” – Albert Kass

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I languish on your shore; I should’ve left here long ago…

Music is often as much for the listener as it is for the creator: Songs connect us to our emotions and help us feel alive, but each one is also the artistic output of some individual or group written (in many cases) to express some intangible sensation that, for the creator, simply cannot be captured through words alone. Singer/songwriter Albert Kass’ haunting “Shallow Sea” resonates with emotional depth in its heartwrenching submission to loneliness and longing.

stranded on your shallow sea
there’s no hope left in me
I languish on your shore
I should’ve left here long ago
Albert Kass
Shallow Sea – Albert Kass

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Shallow Sea,” the third single from singer/songwriter Albert Kass. Following songs “The Void” and “Hurricane,” “Shallow Sea” furthers the Los Angeles native’s introduction as an evocative vocalist and raw, stripped-down songwriter. Full of heartache and wallowing in isolation, “Shallow Sea” dwells in the emptiness left in the wake of loss – whether that’s a breakup, or any other major life change.

I just can’t endure
the thought of losing this war
and all my memories
they won’t let me be
it seems there’s no escape
from that vacant place
hollowed out in me
it’s like I got your disease

“This record — especially this song (Shallow Sea) — was the unexpected result of the collapse of my professional and personal lives,” Kass tells Atwood Magazine. “The depression was debilitating and all-encompassing. I felt a physical aspect of loss and hopelessness like I had never before experienced. At the tail end of that episode, something outside of myself seemed to manifest, and I picked up my guitar. I would sing in tongues — a gut-wrenching gibberish. I never made the conscious choice to write anything. It just came pouring out of me. ‘Shallow Sea’ is both the trough and peak. It was the only therapy I knew, and somehow, it was exactly what I needed.”

I never made the conscious choice to write anything. It just came pouring out of me.

To quote Kass: “To get over feeling hopeless, you have to succumb to it.” “Shallow Sea” is a complete surrender of the self to the stormy surrounding darkness. Performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and upright bass, Kass’ music is sweet and inviting – somber, but not musically dark. The air in-between instruments creates the space for light to shine through, and with it comes a spiritual rejuvenation that ultimately leaves listeners (and Kass himself) feeling something akin to hope. Maybe – just maybe – the darkness has an end.

If you think there might be a light, then you’re already headed toward it. Written in the darkest moments of an individual’s life, “Shallow Sea” is vulnerable and inspiring – a piece of raw sorrow lifted up and out of its shell. Stream “Shallow Sea” exclusively on Atwood Magazine!

Stream: “Shallow Sea” – Albert Kass

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