Victoria Reed’s therapeutic new song “Heal Your Pain” is a soothing, tender expression of love, togetherness, and empathy that goes out to any and all who need to hear it.
Stream: “Heal Your Pain” – Victoria Reed
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I’m not saying you’re not doing well for someone who has been to hell and back; can’t you see that I just wanna help?
For many of us, it’s not easy to let go of our pain and let others in; we often hold our grief tight to the chest, clinging to it despite the aching in our hearts. Relinquishing that grasp requires a level of vulnerability, as well as acceptance – a recognition that our healing process does not have to be one we undergo alone, despite how lonely our pain may feel. For singer/songwriter Victoria Reed, healing from her own trauma meant months and years of processing, thoughtful reflection, therapy, a powerful full-length album’s worth of material. The artist’s therapeutic new song “Heal Your Pain” is a soothing, tender expression of love, togetherness, and empathy that goes out to any and all who need to hear it.
It’s the kind of cathartic, expressive music we need now more than ever.
I’m not saying you’re not doing well
For someone who has been to hell and back
Can’t you see that I just wanna help
And I can understand that
Oh some things they just
Don’t go as you had hoped
But angel I want you to know
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Heal Your Pain,” the third single off singer/songwriter Victoria Reed’s upcoming sophomore album Aquamadre (out April 24, 2020 via Fisica Moderna Records / AWAL). Recorded in her home of Mexico City with producer Autre Ne Veut, Aquamadre is a passionately intimate collection of songs brimming with light, warmth, and soulful sincerity. Reed – who introduced herself with 2016’s debut Chariot – sounds more confident and comfortable in her skin than ever before on her sophomore record, sounding at times like a lo-fi version of Tennis, and in other moments like a piano-based Phoebe Bridgers. In all instances, the music is moody and moving – unapologetically cinematic in breadth, yet intensely intimate in scope.
“Heal Your Pain” owns the coveted sixth slot on Reed’s upcoming ten-track record. Following the hypnotic, impassioned lead single “Do It for You Too” and ambient album opener “Same Way,” “Heal Your Pain” introduces tenderness and empathy into Reed’s 2020 push.
I want you to know you can heal your pain
You don’t have to carry the weight
Though you have come so far on your own
Some things they are just
Too much to hold all alone
Too much to hold all alone
Breathy background vocals and lilting synth work blend together to make a uniquely mesmerizing, bittersweet and touching soundscape. An artist of the world, Reed’s sonic identity takes from the many environments she’s been exposed to over the years: From her birth home in Detroit, to college in Chicago, and her 20s spent in New York, the artist has carefully crafted a heartfelt, watery alternative sound that is part “indie folk” and part “bedroom pop,” with dashes of R&B, electronic, and even top 40 mixed in for added effect. In short, Victoria Reed’s sound is wholly and unequivocally her own – a credit that she shares with Aquamadre‘s producer Autre Ne Veut, whose 2015 studio album Age of Transparency still echoes its way down Atwood Magazine‘s halls from time to time (be sure to give “World War, Pt. 2” a listen).
“Heal Your Pain” captures more than Reed’s sonic and musical aura at this juncture. With its heart-on-sleeve message of healing and renewal, it also captures the greater message of the album: “Healing is always possible,” Victoria Reed shares. “Even when it feels utterly unimaginable, even when the darkness seems overwhelming, I’ve learned time and time again that there’s always a brighter place we can get to.”
Listening to “Heal Your Pain,” we can hear Reed singing not only to those who need to hear it, but also to herself. “I want you to know you can heal your pain,” she croons, her voice full of caring as it melts into the ethereal backdrop. “You don’t have to carry the weight, though you have come so far on your own. Some things, they are just too much to hold all alone.“
This special sentiment continues into the second verse, as Reed depicts a poignant scene in which her present-day self travels back in time to grieve with her mother’s childhood self: “Sometimes the world is a wedding day and an earthquake.” Such haunting poetry and stirring imagery speaks to Reed’s prowess as a lyricist, a vocalist, and an overall artist.
I traveled back in time
Just to take her hand in mind
Told her that I loved her and
Her father is a very sick man
And the one who would save the day
He arrived not a minute too late
Sometimes the world is
A wedding day and an earthquake
Oh some things they just
Don’t go as you had hoped
But angel I want you to know
“This song is inspired by a type of therapy I did called EMDR – a big component of which is reprocessing trauma, going back into it from a safe and supported place, and changing the script,” Victoria Reed tells Atwood Magazine. “In other words, taking a situation where you did not have a choice, or in which you were unsupported, and inserting choice and support retrospectively. It sounds too good to be true, but I would scream its efficacy from the rooftops.”
She continues, “In this song, I imagine that I am healing not only my own traumas, but also those of my mother, my grandmother, and so on. More than anything, I hope this song inspires those who are struggling or in need of help to reach out. It’s rooted in my learned-first-hand and deeply held belief, that true healing is possible, even when it feels utterly unimaginable.”
I hope this song inspires those who are struggling or in need of help to reach out.
No matter who’s hearing it and who’s listening, “Heal Your Pain” is a reminder that we don’t need to experience our pain alone. Whether we are mourning a loved one, in grief over a lost job or missed opportunity, or simply struggling with distance and physical/emotional separation, “Heal Your Pain” encourages us to let go a bit and let the light in – however it happens to manifest itself.
Lush, dreamy, and utterly sweet, Victoria Reed’s “Heal Your Pain” is exactly the kind of song the world needs to hear right now. Stream “Heal Your Pain” exclusively on Atwood Magazine; Reed’s sophomore album Aquamadre is out April 24, 2020!
I want you to know you can heal your pain
You don’t have to carry the weight
Though you have come so far on your own
Some things they are just
Too much to hold all alone
Too much to hold all alone
Too much to hold all alone
Too much to hold all alone
Stream: “Heal Your Pain” – Victoria Reed
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