Meet Amelia Day, a sapphic singer-songwriter whose music is about to take over your perfectly curated 2024 playlists. “Little One” is a six song EP influenced by Amelia’s PNW childhood and her early 20s in Nashville. The EP graced streaming sites in fall, and has since been on repeat for me. Day describes her latest release as “very eclectic,” and a rebellion against the pressure for artists to be confined to one genre. She was kind enough to sit down with me recently over Zoom and chat for an hour or two over our respective coffees. We talked about intellectualizing our feelings, “confusing sapphic middlegrounds” and which artists are currently inspiring her musical style.
Amelia hit the ground running, debuting her music on Spotify in 2021 and playing live in her hometown of Tacoma, Washington. Likely due to her love of genre exploration, Amelia’s music has a varied demographic. “Middle aged dads like my music in Washington, for some reason, and I’m very flattered to have them!” I first saw Amelia open for Miki Fiki — a pretty rad jazz/funk project founded in 2017 out of West Nashville — at the Basement. For those unfamiliar with this Nashville venue, picture dive bar vibes and pours but with good sound. Catching up about that night, Amelia went on record to confirm that she is a “big Basement fan.” We also chatted about the artist scene: “Nashville is such a weird place where it seems like there’s a million musicians, and there are, but I’ve found these pockets of really tight communities that somehow everyone knows everybody, in a weird interconnected way.” This is starting to sound familiar, I think to myself … “Is it the queer community?” Amelia laughs. “Honestly yeah … that’s actually a big part of it, it’s the queer [community] and the indie boys that like, may or may not be queer, and who’s to say?” If you’re familiar with the area, you may notice some West Nashville neighborhoods and parks in her music videos. If you’re really lucky, you may have even seen her sprinting down your street to make TikToks for one of her releases, “Therapist’s Wet Dream.”
Let’s dive into the EP.
Upon my first listen to the intro track, “Pause,” I was immediately transported to an alternate reality in which my bed is made, I’m lighting my candles and doing my nightly routine. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest. Amelia tells me that “Pause” is one of the earliest songs that she envisioned for this project. She wrote it during winter break of her sophomore year at college, when she finally had a moment to reflect, create, and, well — pause. This one is a “celebration of taking that rest and the importance of breathing and being present in your body, being present in nature. It’s very meditative.” From the beginning, Amelia was envisioning the soundscape that you hear on the track now. “We literally put in birdsong and stuff, so it created a scene in the sound itself beyond just the words, if that makes sense. I really wanted to displace the listener into that peaceful arena.” Jean Michel Basquiat once said, “art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.” Amelia Day is hanging nature-themed art in the metaphorical space within her music in “Pause.”
“Woe is Me” is objectively the funkiest tune on Day’s latest release. The song is actually a collaboration between Amelia and her girlfriend, Molly. It’s one third an Amelia Day song, one third a Molly Grace song and one third something magical that happens in the in-between. Amelia speaks highly of the recording process for this song, describing it as “hanging out with your best friend and just like, messing around” in the studio. “I started writing the bones of the song when I was listening to almost exclusively her music,” Amelia tells me. Wait wait wait, you’re thinking. Once they were dating right? Nope. In typical “confusing sapphic middleground” fashion, Amelia and Molly both loved and were inspired by each other’s music before they started dating. That is so f*cking adorable, and what a way to manifest both the relationship and song.
Amelia knows that she tends to highly intellectualize her feelings. In a weirdly spot-on rich aunt voice, she says that she’s always gotten comments like “Oh my god, you’re so self aware, so introspective.” That comes through in Day’s EP “Little One.” Self awareness has proven key to writing songs about what you’re genuinely feeling, but the healing doesn’t stop there. “Knowing this does not help me feel better, I have no idea where to go from here and how to actually not be depressed! Ya know?” She laughs. We agree that hopefully that’s what a good therapist can address. I ask Amelia the best tip she’s gotten in therapy; her suggestion is to “notice the things around you … five things you see, four things you hear … noticing the details around you has really helped me feel more present and calm, in my own body and space.” (She later mentioned that performing is when she feels most in her body and mindful, but for those of us who don’t have the musical talent to accomplish that, the five, four, three etc. method should suffice). She’s in between therapists, but laughs and says “I really need to get back into therapy, I just released a whole song about it so I should probably actually do it!” She’s looking for someone who specializes in somatic and/or EMDR therapy and is queer affirming. Nashville therapists who meet the criteria, please contact Amelia Day. You can apply here.
The fourth song on the EP is called “Skipping Down the Sidewalk.” This uplifting song feels like your meds are working, and it’s sunny out. Your coffee came out in the perfect ratio this morning, and you are crushing hard. If any song can unlock pure childhood joy, it is this one. If you weren’t already convinced to check out Day’s music videos, here’s your second chance to watch the vibrant video for “Skipping Down the Sidewalk.”
In “Alma Mater,” Day reflects on the end of her high school relationship — a first love. Probably relatable to anyone who has experienced that soul crushing WLW heartbreak. “Let me go or let me in, I wanna feel myself again, I’m giving up on giving in, if I never met you could I love again? High school sweethearts never win” sounds like it would fit right into my journal from my first real heartbreak. “Alma Mater” is one of Amelia’s favorites to play live, and I was lucky enough to see it at her EP release show in Nashville. A show filled with friends and fans, the crowd participation on this song went crazy. Check it out on her Instagram.
The title track, “Little One,” is a message of love and perspective from present-day Amelia to her younger self. For Day, connecting with what you loved as a kid is a way to stay sane. Amelia realized that dressing colorfully made her happy, and she draws on this when she wants to show love to her younger self. Art is also a great way to connect with your inner child, and she took the opportunity to draw her own album cover, collaged with adorable pictures of herself as a toddler. In the chorus Amelia sings “‘Cause you’re still young, little one, you’re havin’ fun, little one, you might be dumb sometimes, but girl, you’re mine anyways. I am you and you are still me.” To me, “Little One” is about showing the same love to all iterations of yourself that you would show to a good friend, and it serves as a good reminder not only for Amelia but for anyone who comes across the song.
Within the first few minutes of our chat about the eclectic “Little One” EP, Amelia was already thinking about what is coming next. Needless to say, 2024 is going to be a good year for her. Drawing on inspiration from the likes of Madison Cunningham, Remi Wolf and Brandi Carlisle, Amelia makes music that belongs in your 2024 Spotify Wrapped. The “Little One” EP reads like a really good conversation — one with your friend who just gets you and you leave that coffee catch-up with the will to live again. Here’s to more genuine connection in 2024, with our own selves and with those special people who make us feel like skipping down the sidewalk!