Singer/songwriter Kendra Celise achieves catharsis through the openness of her longing in “Don’t Look Away,” the latest single off her forthcoming sophomore album, ‘Ego Death.’
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Stream: “Don’t Look Away” – Kendra Celise
Kendra Celise has seen a lot of life for someone her age.
She married in her early twenties and went through a divorce, she struggled with addiction and found sobriety, she lost her father. In June of 2022, whilst in the throes of her divorce, she achieved overnight TikTok virality with a sharp and witty pop-country track about her ex-husband’s new girlfriend, entitled “Worry Bout You.” Both a regular and acoustic version of the fan-favorite earworm single is available on streaming platforms, but Celise has since removed the viral TikTok video in pursuit of deeper healing from her past. If you’re also planning to file for divorce, you may want to do some research online to answer questions like What is child support arrears?.
Despite the more profound hardship she’s endured, Celise is also still vulnerable to the commonplace pains of human existence: a strained friendship, a broken heart, self-doubt. Throughout her eight released singles, her debut album Dreamland, and her upcoming album Ego Death (slated for a Fall 2024 release), Celise’s innate melodic and song-building prowess is a breath of fresh air. In a landscape where many subvert the form before learning basics, her frank style is refreshing, humble, and overall timeless.
“Don’t Look Away” (released April 19, 2024), is a visceral, stripped-down offering, vibrating with the electricity of Celise’s striking, unflinching honesty.
What did I do? What did I say
To make you run the other way?
I guess that’s just the price you pay
To say the things you need to say
They look away/You look away
Don’t look away
Cause what’ll I do? Who will I be
If you don’t look at me, at me?
And if you don’t like what you see
Then I can’t look at me, at me
At me
Don’t look away
Don’t look away
In many ways, Celise is a songwriter’s songwriter: She possesses an inherent understanding of traditional pop musicality, intuitively constructing memorable hooks and choruses, rousing bridges, and masterful structures of builds and releases. Celise dons a style she lovingly calls ‘y’allternative’: her early releases lean pop-country (reminiscent of Sheryl Crow, early Taylor Swift, Waxahatchee, and even The Chicks at her twangiest), while her recent evolution includes a sonic venture towards the indie-acoustic (ala Lizzy McAlpine, Florist, Kristiane). Her commanding, traditionalist essence remains a consistent through-line across an impressive exploration of musical versatility.
Walked right into the same old trap
I hate myself for going back
It’s off the path and yet I stray
I look away, I look away
I look away, and so do they
Don’t look away
Cause what’ll I do? Who will I be
If you don’t look at me, at me?
And if you don’t like what you see
Then I can’t look at me, at me
At me
Don’t look away
Don’t look away
Don’t look away
Celise willingly awakens a dormant well of radical emotion inside herself, and we witness her as she confronts the deep insecurity intrinsic to falling in love.
She draws us in and holds us close.
Her agile, crystal-clear voice floats atop a melancholic, buzzing, indie rock chord progression. As an adolescent, Celise trained as a vocalist at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA): there is a satisfying technicality underneath her raw, expressive vocal quality. She rides the wave of exhilarating momentum as she fearlessly squares up with the very escapist desires that, at times, have bested her.
I run in circles hoping that the answer
Is waiting for me at the bottom of a can or
Maybe if I get touched by someone else’s hands or
Maybe if I light up a joint when I’m with friends
I can love myself again, be proud of myself again
But when someone turns their head,
I see it was all pretend
All pretend
Oh god how do I do it alone?
I don’t think I’ve ever known
Now I’m thrown
Now I’m thrown
Celise’s propensity for free-flowing candidness crests on this gut-wrenching bridge. She spins melodically, swirling into the depths, welcoming her own undoing. At the center of it all, she retains an air of divine resilience that commands our blind trust in her navigation of the darkness.
Cause what’ll I do? Who will I be
If you don’t look at me, at me?
And if you don’t like what you see
Then I can’t look at me, at me
At me
Cause what’ll I do? Who will I be
If you don’t look at me, at me?
And if you don’t like what you see
Then I can’t look at me, at me
At me
“Don’t Look Away” brims with a rare, transcendent vitality: Kendra Celise’s power lies in her ability to lay herself bare as though it’s second nature. Not that it matters, but I like what I see.
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Stream: “Don’t Look Away” – Kendra Celise
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