Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Cheryl Waters, host of the Midday Show on KEXP, is "Younger and Dumber" by Indigo De Souza, from the 2023 album All of This Will End on Saddle Creek.
On today's Song of the Day, Asheville, NC-based artist Indigo De Souza reflects on the insecutities of her youth. The track serves as a sneak peek to her forthcoming full-length, All Of This Will End, which will be released April 28th via Saddle Creek.
In a press statement, she shares:
“Younger and Dumber” is a flood beam of my emotional and spiritual human experience. My growing up defeated by a world brutally littered with trash, violence and grief, and somehow finding beauty, purpose, and boundless love existing in the same place. This song felt really emotionally intense for me when I wrote it. I was sitting in my house and it kind of flowed right to me as if it had already been written by some other force. A lot of the lyrics are a nod to the idea that your experiences make you who you are. I endured some heavy darkness and dysfunction when I was a teenager. But if I hadn’t been through those things, I wouldn’t be who I am now. When you’re young, you don’t know any better, but you learn from your experiences, and then you become somebody who’s been alive and learning. It’s also about how heartbreaking that is; to start as a child with vivid curiosity, innocent imagination and joy, and for the world to end up being kind of brutal to be a part of. This song is a love letter to everyone’s inner child. No one can prepare us for how insane it is to be alive. How many times we will have to rise from the ashes and what courage it will take.
De Souza directed the song's accompanying music video, as well as co-designed the costumes alongside her mother. Of the clip, she says:
I took psilocybin for the shoot. I have a very specific way of dancing when I’m on mushrooms. The movements feel like electricity rising up from the earth through ancient networks of mycelium. It feels like the trees and plants are moving my body for me and I am just surrendering. It feels so clear to me now more than ever, how important it is to unabashedly embody my truest spirit. Because I am not special, and I’m fleeting, and it feels like it’s my purpose to help mobilize others to come home to themselves. To wake from our societal sleepwalk and consider the importance in creating deep connection within community and relationships. To find a preciousness in the time we have and the earth we’re nourished by. To see nature in all its primordial magic, as something to learn from and grow with. Something to protect.
Finding good new music can be a full time job, so let KEXP help! In Our Headphones brings you five song recommendations every Monday, straight from KEXP’s DJs and Music Directors. Join hosts Janice Headley and Isabel Khalili on this never-ending journey of music discovery.
Host Emily Fox and KEXP’s editorial team talk with artists about the stories behind their songs and the experiences that inform their work. Through each conversation, we uncover the humanity behind the music, allowing us to hear it in a whole new way.
