Drawing us in with an astral synthscape and a cinematic piano performance, radicalove opens higher power with notions of timelessness and a high emotional quotient. The opus expands with a vulnerable vocal performance of the words, “I’m tired and lonely, I want to be home, please don’t leave me alone anymore, I’m hurting, I’m breaking, and patiently saying a prayer I didn’t have before…”
We are immediately captivated by the raw authenticity that transmutes, and the intentional depth that radicalove creates with. There is no doubt that radicalove has written this from her lived experience with addiction. The strings arrangements and soft drums amplify the emotive nature of the piece.
Essentially, higher power is about struggling with loneliness, emotional pain, and self-destructive behaviour. The silver lining is finding hope through support and self-awareness. radicalove describes feeling lost, broken, and afraid of who she has become.
The star also realizes that she is not truly alone, and that there are people who care about her and a path towards healing. The repeated idea of “walking through the door” and “keep coming back” suggests recovery spaces, where warmth, acceptance and second chances exist. Ultimately, the song is about survival, trust, and discovering inner strength and community. higher power feels like it could have fit perfectly into a film like A Star Is Born, Gia, or Beautiful Boy.
Speaking on the journey that inspired the release, radicalove confesses, “I wrote this song about getting sober. I’ve been sober since August 29th 2023, and I plan on keeping that my only and last sobriety date. Getting to that point was one of the hardest things I’ve been through in my life, and definitely the hardest battle that’s lasted consistently for the longest amount of time. It was a very difficult start that got easier over time, but that ease took the kind of work I had put off my entire life: it was wildly uncomfortable, identity shattering, humbling, and so many other emotions that completely broke me open, because in order to recover from a hopeless state of mind and body I had to rebuild my life and who I was from the ground up.”
We learn that the lyrics were directly inspired by radicalove’s early days of sobriety. There was a moment when radicalove was overwhelmed by withdrawal and emotional pain, sitting outside a recovery meeting before being physically helped inside by others, which is reflected literally in lines like “take a deep breath and walk through the door” and the imagery of candles, warmth, and community.
The song was brought to life through collaboration with Russell Barton, who added orchestral string layers, producer and mentor Matt Vistnes, who helped shape both the sound and the artist’s journey into sobriety, and mixing/mastering engineer Berd Berry.
Needless to say, we are in awe of the message, the build of the production, the instrumental solo, including transcendental and inspiring guitar strings, leading to a beautiful choral finale. We have added higher power to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS playlist, whilst we continue to stream radicalove‘s debut single, butterflies.