Our Track by Track feature gives artists the opportunity to share the inspiration and stories behind each song on their latest release. Today, Angel Haze peels back the curtain on her new EP Girl with the Gun.
Following a five-and-half year hiatus, Angel Haze is back with her new EP, Girl with the Gun. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify.
During the former Rookie of the Year’s break from the music scene, one of the interests Haze leaned on as a creative outlet to heal from a traumatic upbringing was painting. This newfound love for an outside discipline helped the 27-year-old artist return to a mindset in which she could once again create music for herself — free of outside expectations.
“Girl With The Gun is the start of a new life for me. It’s everything I’ve been wanting to say with a precision that doesn’t miss,” Haze explains in a statement. “To me, it is my first letter home to myself… as well as the first time I’ve ever written back. The beginning! This record, to me, is about taking a shot on yourself, seeing through all the fog and failure and expectation, and understanding that the real target is purpose.”
The opening track is reflective of Haze’s journey. “I feel like, over time, I’ve had to fight to keep so much of myself from being consumed by the darker parts of the world I’ve experienced,” she tells Consequence. “I think though, that even in the consistency of losing, there’s a light to be aware of. We’re always being shown both the greatest and weakest aspects of ourselves, and it’s important to remember it’s all being ‘given,’ so this life is what you make of it.”
In anticipation of Girl with the Gun, Haze shared the pre-release singles “Never Seen” and “The Altar.” About the latter track, she says making it “felt like I was trying to lift my voice from the floor of my body and send it upward in thanks.”
To give a closer glimpse into Girl with the Gun, Haze has broken down the project in our latest Track by Track interview. Read on beneath the streams for details about each of the EP’s six tracks below.
“Girl With The Gun”:
I think I wrote this song about my own power. I feel like, over time, I’ve had to fight to keep so much of myself from being consumed by the darker parts of the world I’ve experienced. I think though, that even in the consistency of losing, there’s a light to be aware of. We’re always being shown both the greatest and weakest aspects of ourselves, and it’s important to remember it’s all being “given,” so this life is what you make of it.
Even though I’m swallowing decades of pain, I’m surviving and remembering how necessary reaching beyond myself for beauty will always be… Basically, if you want to be a part of the sky, you gotta shoot your highest. It’s about the part of me that will never quit fighting for myself, for my place in the stars.
“Fly Trap”:
“Fly Trap” comes from a darker part of my mind. The place where I battle everything from belonging, to being. It feels erratic and stirred, and I wanted that kind of buzzing in the brain to translate to the music. The mind can be its own fly trap, sticky feelings of doubt, fear and failure keeps visions from flying out, becoming what they could. This song addresses that weight.
“The Altar”:
“The Altar” is a song about my new relationship with the divine in the world and in myself. It felt like I was trying to lift my voice from the floor of my body and send it upward in thanks. When I started writing these songs, I’d pray before and ask for the music to flow.
“Never Seen”:
On “Never Seen,” I explore the territory of voice. I wanted to play with different tones and intertwine thoughts to create a woozy, dreamlike impression. This song is my daydream of a life bigger than my eyes can hold. I’m massive. Take it all in.
“Ministry”:
I found a love I thought I never could, and for that reason alone, I praise it.
“Bullet”:
Hit the target. Realize the beauty in all things, that everything can be found in the light. The song is a vision.
