Salwa brings us peace and contentment as she sings in her recent "Better Place" record with emotion and strife.
Salwa, a Lebanese-Canadian artist based in Ottawa, Canada, writes, arranges, produces, and records her music. Her journey started when she was only seven years old; she began playing the piano, alternately leading her to the beginning of her classical training. She had continued throughout the years and now plays piano as her first nature. Salwa aims to create a safe space while being experimental and more alternative. For Salwa, it appears she finds great purpose in creating music and performing it for the world to hear, while she believes that "good music is human connection in the purest most uninterrupted form."
We hear Salwa's euphonious voice breathe through the speakers as we soak up all her feelings in the record "Better Place." As the instrumental combines with her vocal writing style, we are sure to experience a new fondness for Salwa and her talents.
As we embark on a "Better Place," Salwa glides in with smooth, soft chords as her voice enters breathily. She seems to question her journey in life as she feels she's always been moving around and experiencing hardships with the people she meets. However, we immediately think that her passion for her lyrics comes truly from experiencing it and living through that current moment. As Salwa embraces her ways, she sings, "We might still be far away, and maybe going the wrong way, but I'll still find us a better place; that's all that matters anyway."
Journeying on, Salwa introduces slight drums to distinguish the song's structure; she allows the instrumental in having its moment while the birds chirp as we drift away with our thoughts. And as soon as her vocals enter, it's like the voice of an angel awakens us as she tells us how she sometimes doubts that she can accomplish her expectations, but all she's doing is trying to find her place in this world, a feeling I'm sure we can all relate to. Salwa pushes the boundaries with her vocals and the extra elements she added to differentiate the first verse from the second and the outro. Then, finally, she softly exits while the instrumental shakes us out of our seats, precisely how we wished it would do.
Feel through the motions with Salwa as she free's her mind in her emotional single "Better Off," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Salwa! We appreciated every second of your reflective and emotional new single, "Better Place" What was the primary source of the inspiration behind this personal piece?
Thank you! The initial motivator behind Better Place was the idea that I'd already written way too many sad songs and needed to write at least one hopeful song to get myself out of my beginner songwriter phase, so I wrote a song about emotional healing. More seriously, though, the song is a reflection of my personal healing process, which I hope might be relatable to some. It's the idea of shifting from one mentality to another. So, whenever I notice that I really need to shift to a better mental space, I'll look for ways to improve my perspective on life. Then when that would get too uncomfortable, I'd move towards what feels like a more comfortable but less healthy perspective. The cycle would continue, sometimes ending up worse than where you started, except you would eventually get better at finding your "better places." The point is that the process is treacherous, and there isn't an actual final destination, but it's the constant experiencing and learning that'll be rewarding in the end. In the song, I made that parallel with a nomad group that's constantly trying to find a better place to meet their needs but never settles. I personally like to imagine it in a desert setting.
What was the most challenging part about creating a simple piece like "Better Place?" Did you face any personal or physical challenges?
The lyrics and melodies were edited a whole lot, and I remember that chorus melody taking me really long to come up with. But the most challenging part by far was the production and audio engineering aspects. It's my first ever release, so it's also my first time producing and mixing a song that I made. The main reason it was difficult was that I was in charge of it all, so I kept switching between my creative mode and my editing mode. I find it important not to mix those two too much, especially when creating, but that proved to be a challenge for me. The lines were constantly blurred. I did love having full control over the song, though.
What was your goal regarding the listener's experience with "Better Place?" What do you hope the single does for them?
At least, I hope that people feel something when they listen to it. At most, I hope people experience a personal connection with it. That's all I'm trying to do. I just want to connect with people emotionally. It just so happens to be through music for me. With this song specifically, I want it to spark some hope for people who are experiencing something that feels impossible to move past.
Did you work entirely solo when creating the production and instrumentals for "Better Place?" What was that process like?
The entire process of making and releasing the song, with the exception of mastering, was done by me. It was surprisingly more difficult than I expected… I had no idea how much goes behind one song. But mainly, I didn't realize I would lose my sense of objectivity for the song that quickly. It's probably because I was working on it continuously for way too long, so at that point, it was challenging to step outside of my perception and biases to figure out what the song might be missing or if something sounds bad. It's kind of like how you can't describe the scent of your own house because you never get a long enough break from it. You'd need someone else to do that for you.
What's next for you?
I'm planning to release another single before 2023, hopefully in November. I'm also working on an EP that's gonna be out next year! In the meantime, I'll be trying to find some performance opportunities in Ottawa. SO STAY TUNED!!