An intimate and raw portrayal of real life and challenges, Sharaya Summers’ “This House” is as delicate as it is genuine: An ethereal, grounded song that sends us into our own introspective worlds.
Stream: “This House” – Sharaya Summers
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West Coast singer/songwriter Sharaya Summers established herself as an artist-to-watch with 2018’s enchanting, euphoric debut EP Bend Before We Break, and after a series of singles last year, has returned in 2020 with yet another stunning piece of alt-folk bliss. An intimate and raw portrayal of real life and challenges, Sharaya Summers’ “This House” is as delicate as it is genuine: An ethereal, yet grounded song that sends us into our own introspective worlds.
this house is a story
everything falls apart
all the things that need fixing
adopted dog in the yard
trace the cracks in the walls
even empires fall
you don’t disappoint me
baby, get back in the car
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “This House,” Sharaya Summers’ first single of 2020 (out now). Portland-born and previously based in Los Angeles for almost a decade, Summers recently moved back to her first home of Oregon and started a family with her husband Jacob Summer (of Avid Dancer). Together they live in “a cabin along the Rogue River,” where they created a home studio and make music while raising their new baby boy.
Such a life sure sounds picturesque, but as Summers herself admits on her new song’s opening lines, “This house is a story: Everything falls apart.” Beneath every spec of seeming perfection – every “ideal relationship” – is a swarm of troubles. As I always say, couples who don’t fight are doomed: No two people are alike, and it’s healthy to argue and engage; how else can you find common ground?
“This House,” with its somber guitar line and heavy ambience, captures the weight of reality and its sundry ups and downs. Life isn’t perfect, nor should we try and make it perfect, and that’s okay; it’s alright for the music we listen to, to reflect the tedium of the everyday – our fractures, our faults, our mistakes, etc.
Through “This House,” Sharaya Summers showcases life’s ups and downs in a song that is heartfelt, hypnotic, engaging, and real.
Speaking of her new music, she notes how “This House” is amongst her most authentic songs. “When my first EP came out I had just gotten married and was starting a new chapter of life,” she tells Atwood Magazine. “I think I used to drum up drama to write about almost from a fictional point of view, pulling from people in my life or characters I had read about. I strove to make the songs make sense. This batch of songs I’m about to release were recorded about a year ago. Marriage is difficult, we have been through some ups and downs, and I guess the big change in my music is that I’ve gotten more personal, more honest. I just write what comes out, unfiltered, a bit more stream of consciousness. In the track ‘Prodigal’ off my first EP, I say, “Sometimes I think it’s best not to give a fuck.” Now, I just find myself not giving one. Guess I’m just growing up.”
“I’m also a mother now,” she continues. “That’s still really new and it’s pretty amazing and trippy at the same time. I haven’t written much recently since having my son, theres always a bit of lag time between recording to releasing. I have a group of new songs I’m excited to start releasing and getting back in the flow of things – I’m excited to be in a better place with my husband, who also produces and writes music with me. Things seem to be ready to flow very naturally without all the same expectations I used to put on myself.”
2020 heralds a new season for Sharaya Summers’ artistry and her career, and we cannot wait to keep up with her as her story continues. “This House” carries that same dreamy element that made her last record so dazzling an experience, and yet this new song’s ineffably raw quality makes it all the more meaningful and all the more relatable. Sharaya Summers remains a stellar up-and-comer on The West Coast; stream “This House” exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
Stream: “This House” – Sharaya Summers
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