Emerging indie sensation Ana Paz takes listeners on a beautiful ride through loss, metamorphosis, and healing with her latest EP, "surrender" an experimental 3 track exploration of grief in all its raw and radiant forms. At a little past 13 minutes, surrender is brief, but its emotional heft keeps resonating long after the last note is gone. Melding the luxuriant textures of ambient and chamber pop with indie and downtempo rhythms, Paz develops an intimate sound that manages to be both personal and cinematic.
Each track functions as a chapter of the grieving process, focusing listeners on sitting with the discomfort, the beauty, and the growth that comes from loss. Starting off in a near state of battle upon opening, the journey of the EP is and captures anger and spirals into peace. In particular, the standout track "what's left to say" plays hypnotic loops and complex drum patterns against Paz's hushed yet penetrating voice, expressing the frustration of those unsaid and unaddressed emotions and words. On "where time stops," she leans into nostalgia and stillness, leaving room for contemplation as delicate harmonies drift like suspended memories.
"This project became a form of alchemizing pain," says Ana. "Each song represents a stage I've gone through in the process of grieving not only the death of my grandmother but the many selves I've had to leave behind," she said. Dreamy and earthy, surrender is Ana Paz at her most vulnerable and strongest. It's an escort for anyone who's grieving, providing an outlet for catharsis as well as a compass to clarity. With surrender, Ana Paz is asking listeners to heal.
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