Rising indie-pop artist, Olivia Reid has released her introspective new single, “Wounds (Healing)” today. The new track finds the budding singer-songwriter questioning the layered, complex process of healing within upbeat, airy sounds. Get a glimpse into her upcoming EP now below.
In the track, Olivia Reid explores her relationship with anxiety and painful memories. “I recognized how much I had to heal from, but simultaneously feared that truly healing it would leave an absence or a blankness in me,” she explains. “When I’m in fight or flight mode long enough, wounds in the form of anxiety or sadness can mistakenly feel like a crucial part of who I am. The wounds feel familiar, so starting the healing process made me feel so much weaker at first.”
The song uncovers the strange comfort that comes from romanticizing our own pain out of necessity and the puzzling grief that emerges when we eventually try to move forward. Reid finds herself at a moment of emotional turmoil, when the wounds are finally healing, she’s stuck questioning, ‘isn’t that what I should want?’ Contemplating the hard work of a long-winding road of mending, the vulnerability that emerges from breaking down this internal struggle signals her perseverance to come to terms with her experiences, in a lifelong effort to find gentleness and empathy towards herself.
“It’s a very introspective project, trying to describe how the journey to healing can feel so foreign and isolating, especially after traumatic experiences,” she continues. “There’s this illusion that some emotions are arcane or inexplicable, but this project is the result of me trying desperately to break those layered emotions down, to truly dissect and unpack them, and turn them into a form a listener could feel.”
Olivia Reid’s production style lands listeners in a visceral sonic and emotional world, blending indie acoustics with exploratory electronic pop soundscapes where melancholy meets joy, and simple meets cinematic. Celebrating the complexity of her identity, her work draws inspiration from artists like Bon Iver, Norah Jones, Sylvan Esso, and Florence + The Machine – who have shaped her lyrical metaphors, eclectic musicality, stage presence, and, most notably, her love of sound design. Much like her influences, Reid’s interests are diversified, spanning areas from screenwriting and neuroscience, to current events, the environment – she’s currently involved with Brian Eno’s charity EarthPercent – and podcasting – she formerly hosted Spotify For Artists and Notable’s Song Start podcast, interviewing artists like Sam Smith, Victoria Monet, Hayley Williams of Paramore.
As an avid collaborator, Olivia Reid has connected with global audiences through collaborations such as “Time is Mine” with Kidswaste and “Above the Clouds” with SŸDE. Her music has been featured in Wonderland, Flaunt Magazine, Ones to Watch, Brooklyn Vegan, The New Yorker, and American Songwriter and has been added to several official Apple Music playlists like Happy Hits, Virtual Hugs, and New Music Daily as well as official Spotify playlists like Happy Pop, Metropolis, Chill Tracks, Sunday Session, Dance Hits, and Golden Hour, garnering her over 50 million streams.