Tear Dance

The music of v i v (they/them) is a shuttle for your mind to a state of complete zen. Ultimately, the album you are experiencing is about personal self-acceptance. As a label and creative individuals, our team is excited to welcome them to the family and share this beautiful and intimate album with the world.

Tear Dance goes beyond the realm of v i v’s struggles with anxiety, depression, and insomnia. The album, which is scheduled for release on artists’ 30th birthday, tells stories learned so far.

You need to have “Patience” with yourself to understand the “Essence” of life and go through its “Cadence”. That’s why those three songs are placed in that manner in the album, as intro, midtro, and outro.

“In Patience, you can hear me breathing slowly in the background trying to calm myself down. Mindful breathing is one of the few things that has helped me manage my anxiety. This is the reason why I tried to incorporate breath sounds in most of the songs, to symbolize that I’m still alive and fighting through my struggles. At the end of the song, I whispered to myself that ‘everything’s going to be okay’, hoping that I’d eventually fall asleep. “When The Lights Go Off” is exactly about that – the moment I fall asleep and start dreaming about the magical world of music. Almost all the songs on the album came from my dreams, so I thought it’d be fitting to open the album with this track.”, shares v i v.

“Time” is a collaboration with another Stereofox Records artist – Norwegian producer fnonose.

“Most of my late 20s, I’ve spent worrying about running out of time. This, of course, exacerbated my anxiety, and I kept feeling that time was constantly going against me. I definitely realized in the past year, after we were all forced to slow down by the pandemic, that time is actually on our side, and that we can all learn to calmly move with its flow. The faint ticking clock sound in the background, which used to trigger my anxiety, has now become a part of this lovely relaxing tune Time that I’ve had the honor to make with one of the kindest, most talented producers I’ve met on this musical journey, fnonose.”

“Essence depicts how I hear my music ideas and what I feel when I hear them. Everything is stripped down. No fancy gear; It’s just me and the piano in the room. The focus is solely on the sound of the melodies. There’s nothing to cover up the imperfections. I try to capture those imperfections by recording this in one-take, without correcting anything. There’s beauty in having flaws. It took me a while to understand, but now I know how to embrace them. That to me is the essence of life.”

The album’s centerpiece is the pillar of v i v’s and it reveals the most intimate part of artists’ soul.

“Tear Dance tells the story of my younger self, who fell deep into depression and struggled with insecurities and self-doubt. Making music started off as a means to cope with my mental issues, but I quickly realized that that’s where my passion lies. Unfortunately, my family was against the idea of me becoming a musician. I ended up going the usual route of studying something “safe”, just to not disappoint anyone. I felt that I was always entertaining to make people happy, without them seeing the sadness that I’ve carried along with me. In a way, it’s a story about being misunderstood and invisible.”

The album’s last 2 tracks focus on different people in v i v’s life and how one person’s presence in your life can completely change your life.

“The Rain in Your Eyes is a song about having and showing empathy. It’s about myself no longer feeling invisible. I felt understood because someone could finally see the rain in my eyes and choose to stand in that rain with me. I learned that in life, we don’t have to go through the hard times alone. We can share our burden; we don’t have to act tough all the time. There is strength in being vulnerable, and that’s something we need to be proud about. On this track, I’ve partnered with the amazingly talented Imelda Lizal, who has believed in me from day one and convinced me that I had it in me to complete this project. This album wouldn’t have been possible if it’s wasn’t for her. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you, Mel.

“On the other hand, Cadence is a song I wrote for my best friend, who is featured on the track. Her dad had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and she took it upon herself to care for him and spend more time with him. As a friend, all I could do was to listen to her when she vented her frustrations to me. I felt so powerless, imagining how awfully painful it must be for her to witness her dad slowly slipping away from her. That’s when this song just flowed out of me. Through her experience, I learned that your loved ones are far more important than chasing after materialistic things, and that having regrets is one of the saddest things you can experience in life.”