Kevin Bronson on December 4th, 2019

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“I’ve never felt so free being down,” Hayley Brownell sings on her first single under the aptly chosen moniker Changeling.

The song, “Holy Water,” represents a big step for the 26-year-old singer-songwriter-drummer, who since her graduation from Cal State Northridge in 2015 has played, toured or recorded with the likes of Cailin Russo, Drake Bell, Daya, Doe Paoro, Conan Gray, Ruby-Throated, ExSage, Leah Capelle and more. The song, with its florid melody, lustrous vocals and pulsating beats, documents Changeling’s very personal reckoning.

“‘Holy Water’ is about the struggle of understanding and accepting yourself in the broadest sense, but also for me personally, understanding my sexuality,” she says of the track, the first from her forthcoming EP, “Go Grow.” “These concepts are woven through the entire EP — self-acceptance, forgiveness, growth, inner strength and, simply, that it is OK to let yourself feel everything you need to feel.”

Brownell wrote, played and produced everything on the EP, with an assist on the production end from Elliot Glasser (of FYOHNA). “I decided with this music I really wanted to challenge myself to push past my comfortability of writing on a guitar,” she says. “So these songs were born through me producing for the first time and feeling inspired by all of my friends writing their own really amazing music. I have never felt more in touch with myself emotionally and musically than I have when making these songs.”

“Go Grow” will be out in 2020.

||| Stream: “Holy Water”