American singer-songwriter Emily Yacina has wrestled with an enduring reluctance to connect, facing a lot of “experiences with losing people early on.” The grief, she says, informed how she approaches relationships. As the years pass, however, she grows weary of her fractured views on vulnerability. Now, she’s learning how to surrender to herself. Transformation is a prominent theme on Yacina’s upcoming album, Veilfall—out September 26 and the latest project in her entirely self-released catalog. Lead single “Talk Me Down” was made with the help of Trish McGowan, an Oakland-based musician, who also plays Yacina’s stunt double in the track’s accompanying music video. “Trish made a bunch of different beats, and this one stuck out to me the most,” Yacina says. “When we were working on the song, we were talking about how it could be a really good summer track. It’s just got a fun, feel good vibe.”
Upon hearing the song’s shimmering loop pianos, sunny synths, and driving drum beats, Yacina says the lyrics came to her almost effortlessly. “When I’m hearing melodies for the first time, lyrics sometimes come in as I’m meditating on the song,” she elaborates. “Sometimes it can feel difficult. But with this one, they came super easily.” Longing for personal change, Yacina sings about finding a more natural comfort in opening up. “I feel really focused on getting a big, nebulous feeling down into something that’s succinct. Like, what is a sentence that says it all?” Meshing confessional songwriting with effervescent beats, “Talk Me Down” strikes the right balance with its earnest lyrics and playful sound. Just like vulnerability, the song paradoxically feels open and guarded, with Yacina’s soft vocal lines driving the song toward a satisfying resolution. “It’s a fun song,” she says, “and for those who also struggle with a fear of vulnerability, I hope that it resonates with them, too.”
While “Talk Me Down” finds Emily Yacina yearning for connection, other songs on Veilfall show her surrendering to the feeling, or trying to accept when being honest doesn’t go as planned. “A lot of the songs on the record are about the fear of vulnerability and how it can be really scary to be seen,” she notes. “Still, being in a vulnerable position and really allowing someone to see you, that can make you grow in a way that I don’t think anything else can.” The process might be scary, but Yacina says it’s worth taking the leap rather than staying stuck in a perpetual state of longing. “There’s a lot of fear. I feel like I deal a lot with avoidant attachment, and that was going through my mind and heart when I was making a lot of the songs,” she adds. “Just the reality that this is all so temporary, and knowing that we all will die, is hard for me to dive into. That’s a big part of the record too, having that sort of awareness while also wanting so badly to connect with other people.”
The theme of vulnerability might have come from Yacina’s past, but it’s also heavily inspired by her present. Notably, Yacina’s experiences in LA hosting death cafes have been instrumental in shaping Veilfall’s mood. At those cafes, members of the community come together to untether themselves from grief while connecting with others who’ve had similar life experiences. “Usually we’ll have about ten to 15 people. Nobody knows each other, but they just come with the intention of talking about grief and death,” Yacina recounts. “It’s a freeform discussion, so there’s no course of action or path. It’s really just whatever comes up and whatever people are feeling.”
Held at Heavy Manners Library in Echo Park, these experiences have helped both Yacina and her peers cope with the reality that death has a hand in everyone’s lives. “There’s always overlap in what people are experiencing, which is the healing part of it, because grief can feel really isolating,” she admits. “There will be like four people sitting next to each other who have all lost their dad or an older brother. They’re able to talk to each other, and it really helps people connect.” The cafe is an intentional space where everyone gets to share what burdens them. “I feel very purposeful when I’m hosting the gatherings,” Yacina shares, “because I can tell that it’s helping people.”
