EMMA GABRIEL’S “SEASONS” EXPLORES THE COST OF CHANGING YOURSELF FOR ACCEPTANCE
It always starts with something small.
You change your hair, your voice goes up an octave, and all of a sudden that one thing doesn’t annoy you that much.
Then eventually all these little changes build up and the mirror is staring back at you, confused, lost and heartbroken.
Emma Gabriel’s new single “SEASONS” is all about that moment when you ask yourself, “When did I let this happen?”
This song represents a type of whiplash that Gabriel was dealing with, changing herself over and over again, both in her past relationship and for the music industry.
PICTURED: Emma Gabriel
“…sometimes, you know, you do everything to make people accept you, to make people like you and then the response just doesn’t match what you thought…you do everything to be accepted and you think ‘Wow this person is finally gonna love me’ and then they don’t,” says Emma Gabriel.
To me, this song is meant to play at that specific scene in the coming of age movie. When our beloved main character—who’s well meaning with so much room to grow—finally catches up with the audience and realizes just exactly what Emma Gabriel said: they don’t.
Beyond your familiar underwater sounds and classic late night drive R&B vibe, I think it’s the heart behind this song that makes it stand out.
I won’t humour us by trying to speak for everyone, but I can say that I’ve been in those situations where I felt my full self just wasn’t enough for the room I was walking into. My afro was too obnoxious, my freshly kept Jordan 4s weren’t professional enough for that event or I simply lacked the ability to be “girlfriend material” just being myself in that relationship.
PICTURED: Emma Gabriel
And like Emma Gabriel, I made those small, seemingly harmless, changes too. So when talking with her about the song, I couldn’t help but ask: What has your self love journey been like?
EG: “Not to quote the song but it literally has come in seasons. There are times where, you know, I feel like I’m on a really good path [with] self love. I’m taking care of myself, I’m being reflective, I’m getting my sleep. Like I’m doing all those things but there are definitely still times where you kind of crash and revert back to old habits. I think to make a song like this, it definitely does come from a place of really deep self awareness.”
PICTURED: Emma Gabriel
That self-awareness comes at a cost. “Spiralling” is what Emma Gabriel called it. Like Pandora’s Box cracked open and times of self reflection poured out.
“I think naturally when you’re writing a song like that, you kind of think of one experience as ‘This is the catalyst event that inspired this’ but as you keep writing you’re like ‘Oh my God, there was also this, and there was also this. And as you start going through that, you start to realize that this is a pattern that I need to not do anymore,” says Emma Gabriel.
I think it’s safe to say that life is just seasons. The epic highs and lows of trying to figure things out, of trying to do your best. Ultimately this song serves as a much needed reminder that though life may have its changes, you deserve to stay strong in who you are. And in the words of Emma Gabriel herself, “The only person you hurt when you’re not yourself, is you.”
P.S. Emma Gabriel told me to tell you visuals for this song are coming and you should pay attention because there’re layered messages for you to find! Stream “SEASONS” everywhere now.