Annie Sea sings acoustic soul anthems to energize and empower her audience. Whether she is leading a band or weaving a solo live looped soundscape, her velvet voice and lively melodies deliver compelling stories of transformation. She strives to pursue an eco-conscious life aligned with her message based in the Green Dream tiny home in Portland, Oregon.
Deeply tuned into her sound, Annie Sea has strengthened her voice and stepped into her new role as a powerful frontwoman. Her writing reflects her belief that we can collectively return to a more sustainable way of living and her journey toward her true vision and purpose.
The authenticity that Annie Sea pours into her latest single, "Save Me," sends chills down our spine. Her lyrical motifs are poetic and filled with descriptors that transpire to a sonic destination with an enticing visual that occupies our minds.
Performed with melodic articulation as she oozes angelic timbres for us to feast upon, we feel the passion of Annie Sea come to the forefront. With a slow tempo that eases us into the chorus, "Save Me" is a brilliant display of her inimitable songwriting techniques. The instrumentation plays into this showcasing moment and carries each harmony coincidingly. Annie Sea wrote "Save Me" as a plea for interspecies empathy and from the perspective of a mother Orca.
Elaborating on such a unique concept that remains more irreverent as each day passes, a sense of clarity and education comes from the emotionally fuelled words of this up-and-coming starlet. Planting the lyrical seed, "Would you save me if you understood my song - would you save me?" Annie Sea has us along for the ride and wants us to fight the fight for our beloved Mother Earth.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Annie Sea, and congratulations on the release of "Save Me." We love how you took such an urgent subject and turned it into this striking pop ballad to create awareness amongst your listeners. Could you please share a deeper look into the moment this inspiration struck?
Thank you, BuzzMusic! I'm glad you enjoyed the song and felt touched by its message. Thank you for this thoughtful question. Inspiration for the chorus lines came first. While I was walking home one day, I spotted a vinyl record of Humpback whale songs in the window of a vintage store. I bought it, and as I continued walking, I found the lyrical seed, "Would you save me if you understood my song?". I wondered how we would change our actions if we could communicate with other creatures and truly comprehend what they had to say. I recorded a voice memo on my phone and wrote the line in my notebook. A few weeks later, I saw a screening of the documentary “Dammed to Extinction.” This powerful film examines the impact of the Snake River dams on the decline of Salmon populations and the health of Southern Resident Orcas in the Pacific Northwest. (It also includes one of my songs in the closing credits). In the middle of the documentary, this song's seed started to grow roots. The humans featured in the film described the names, features, and families of the Orcas they knew, in a population with only 75 creatures left. They showed the tragic footage of a mother Orca, Tahlequah, who lost her calf, but continued to carry her for 17 days in a tour of grief. They showed the dams that block the free flow of rivers, heat the water, and make it difficult for Salmon, the food of choice for the Southern Resident Orcas, to survive. I felt compelled to develop the story of the song from the perspective of a mother Orca singing to us.
Does your music tend to take such a mindful approach to the world? What and who inspires your styling?
A lot of my music is poignant and addresses deeper issues, although I have also written many funny songs. We contain multitudes, right? I would describe myself as a "writer song-singer". I came to art as a writer first, tucking poems away in my pink diary as a nine-year-old. I love writing songs and poems because they force you to say a lot in a small space. My favorite songs are about subjects or from a perspective that I don't see discussed often. I strive to weave the conscious, groovy soul of Tracy Chapman and India Arie with the folk lyricism and earth-centered songs of Ayla Nereo and Rising Appalachia.
What would you like your audience to take away from the main message? How can they support the cause further?
The story of Save Me focuses on one local environmental issue and the animals and humans affected by the river dams, but there is also a wider message about the problem of placing humans at the top of a species hierarchy. How would the world change if we could hear trees crying when we cut them down, or fish telling us their water is now too warm to spawn? Because we think of other creatures as less than human, as "other" (and we often think of other groups of humans in this way as well), we don't truly register the consequences of our actions. You could even argue that we pay more attention to animals like Orcas or Bears because we see some of their intelligence and similarities to us. In my former life as a biologist, we called them the "charismatic megafauna", and conservation efforts often focus on them. I am currently reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (for the second time - it may be my favorite book!), and she discusses this idea through the lens of plants and other animals. She discusses Indigenous customs of asking permission of plants before picking them, for example. It seems subtle but could lead to a powerful shift in our perspective. I am certainly no saint in this regard, but I think it is important to travel this path, to shift towards viewing ourselves as part of a family of organisms rather than the kings of a plant and animal kingdom. This link is a great portal to different organizations helping to advocate for the removal of the Snake River dams: https://www.dammedtoextinction.com/how-you-can-help
What's your mission statement as an artist?
My mission as an artist is to uplift and invigorate people and remind them of their own power. I write to explore our connections to each other and the Earth, and I aim to convey hope while sometimes acknowledging the heaviness of the world. Instead of blaming individuals, I try to reflect on the ways that we are all a part of a system and society that we say we want to change and inspire that change through my art.
What's next for you?
I will be releasing my next single, Tiny House Loft, on June 10th, with a hilarious video to follow. The song is based on my experience living in a tiny home for the past five years and is about the challenges of romance in a small space. I'm also planning to release the EP, Aligning, in the Summer of 2022. I have many many songs I would love to record, and I am working to connect with the resources that will help me continue to create beautiful art. Please join my community to stay tuned!
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