Her voice is delicate yet impactful. The sound of her guitar strings captivate your ears. Her honest lyrics engage your mind in a deep story we all need to hear. You can’t put her fire out; she is Letitia VanSant.
Breathing life into her songs, Circadian is her new album releasing more than musical rhythms into the world. Letitia is no longer the shy artist she once was as a child. Her stance on sexual violence, cultural masculinity, growing older and chasing dreams all comprise Circadian. She interweaves her spirituality and passion for social justice into beautiful songs that make you feel “Something Real”.
“This album was different in that all the songs on this album felt like they wrote themselves. These are songs that came to me on their own and I was trying to do justice to the idea,” shares Letitia.
The album opens with “You Can’t Put My Fire Out”, a song Letitia says was written with ease. Her voice starts out soft then gets more powerful as the song progresses. “It’s about me recovering a sense of power after an experience of sexual assault years ago. I didn’t realize it at the time; it did have a big impact on my self-esteem and the way I carried myself. I had these voices in my head that tell me I’m worthless or ugly, I can’t do anything or am going nowhere. There was a moment of being like, those voices are not me and I can shout back at them. I can counter that in my own mind and reclaim the space. I was able to acknowledge how angry I was about the whole thing,” tells Letitia.
A deep connection to life and our relationships was felt in “Something Real” and “Tin Man”. Letitia opens her heart and isn’t afraid to speak up on the difficulty of emotional vulnerability men face in our culture or the ability to create movement in the world through music. “Even the tin man was searching for a heart… And you don’t seem to understand that your pain becomes mine,” sings Letitia.
Track four, “Most of Our Dreams Don’t Come True”, speaks to me personally in a deep way. As I grow older I keep feeling a sense of urgency to make my dreams come true, but I have come to learn all dreams don’t happen and we can always create new ones.
The sadness of growing older is a thread that runs throughout the record. “My generation has gotten so much messaging to reach for the stars and keep trying at all costs. But I think that notion can be taken to a desperate, unhealthy extreme that can leave people profoundly unhappy. There’s a time to let things shift, let things go. Allowing ourselves to grieve old dreams can make space to discover new ones,” says Letitia.
The title track “Circadian” is a beautiful melody inspired by fireflies. Bringing light through music to light pollution, “Fireflies are having trouble finding their mates because their getting confused about the city lights. All we have to do to fix the problem is turn out some of the lights. It got me thinking about in problems, part of the solution is for us to simplify,” shares Letitia. She sings, “The power went out and I learned my neighbor’s names. The snow had fallen deep, it quieted the streets and I felt a precious sense of peace.”
Inspired by classic country songwriters, Letitia digs deep to express her feelings in few words. Closing your eyes for a moment in any of these songs will make you think, question, ponder and appreciate life. “What I have to share is my failures, my questions, and my journey of trying to do better,” says Letitia.
Her uplifting words in “The Hustle” give anyone facing challenges a new hope. Her advice to those creating music is simple, “Create music you would want to listen to,” says Letitia, “There’s always going to be people that are greater and lesser than yourself. No matter how far you get, your always going to wish you were further along. It’s the practice of gratitude and finding the balance of life that makes you happy.”
Listen to Circadian now on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. To learn more Letitia and her tour dates visit letitiavansant.com Follow her on social media: Facebook, Instagram @letitiavansant, YouTube.
Photo Credit: Letitia VanSant website and social media
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