Q&A: Kiely Connell's ‘My Own Company’: A Gritty Journey Through Heartbreak and Self-Discovery
FROM HEARTBREAK TO HEALING — Kiely Connell, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, has released her sophomore album, My Own Company, a powerful and gritty exploration of heartache, mental health and personal recovery. The album is a raw and honest portrayal of the emotional turbulence that comes with loss, depression and the journey toward self-discovery. Connell's powerhouse vocals and heartbreakingly honest lyricism create a deeply resonant narrative that dives into the darker aspects of the human experience.
My Own Company is a masterclass in storytelling, with each track offering a glimpse into Connell's struggles and triumphs. She confronts the pain of losing a friend to suicide in “Restless Bones,” a haunting and introspective reflection on grief and the enduring impact of loss. In “Damn Hands,” Connell delivers a powerful rebuke to unwanted bar groping, a defiant anthem that asserts her strength and autonomy. The album also tackles her personal battles with depression, particularly in “Anesthesia,” where she describes the loneliness of spending the holidays alone after the end of an eight-year relationship.
The album doesn't shy away from the difficult realities of life. Throughout My Own Company, Connell explores the complexities of loneliness and mental health. Yet, despite the darkness, My Own Company is ultimately about resilience and the reclaiming of one's own identity. Connell emerges from her struggles with a newfound understanding of self-love and the importance of the relationship she has with herself.
“It’s about a love that you work so hard on that doesn’t work out in the end, so you ultimately end up working on yourself,” Connell says. “You learn that the most important relationship is the one you have with yourself.”
Connell continues, “Much like my literary heroes Gaiman, Baudelaire, Poe and Sexton, I find beauty in the darker elements of the human experience. In my mind the goths and the confessional poets had the right idea. Themes of loneliness, mental health, and journeying into the unknown spiritually and physically are all extremely relatable and I want to be the kind of artist who calls it like I see it. I want to make people feel less alone in their pain, or in knowing that it's ok to not have all of the answers.”
My Own Company is a striking showcase of Connell’s powerhouse vocals that delve deep into the darker side of the human condition. Yet, amidst the darkness, My Own Company is also a story of resilience and self-discovery. Connell's lyrics are not just about acknowledging pain but about finding the strength to overcome it. Through her music, she navigates the tumultuous path from despair to hope, ultimately reclaiming her sense of self and emerging stronger on the other side.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
KIELY: Style-wise, I like a rock n’ roll Western goth look. I really love Lucinda Williams. I love Neko Case a lot. Aimee Mann, Neil Young and Bob Dylan.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
KIELY: My main thing is that I just want people to feel like they're heard and that when they're going through things that they're not alone, because it can be a very isolating thing anytime you're going through something heavy. If you feel like you're the only one who's ever experienced that, you’re not. I just make people feel less lonely in whatever it is that they're feeling.
LUNA: You’re part of Nashville’s music scene, so what do you love most about this scene? How would you describe the energy and the people that go to your shows or listen to your music?
KIELY: What I love about Nashville is that before I even moved here, I noticed that I would go to a writer's round, and there was this insane amount of support for everyone in the room, and everybody you know was sitting up there listening to each other's songs, singing with each other, and it was this really wonderful, collaborative scene that I don't really feel like I've seen in a lot of other cities. I think that's a really magical, beautiful thing.
LUNA: You just released your sophomore record My Own Company just a few weeks ago and a huge congratulations is in order. What is the inspiration behind the project and how did the title come about?
KIELY: I had been working on a lot of the songs throughout the remainder of the long term relationship that I was in. I was in an eight year long relationship. At the time, I didn't even really know what I was writing for as I was going through it. Towards the end of that relationship was when I started to get everything, like my deal with Thirty Tigers and all that stuff. It became clear through experiencing my first holiday alone and all of these other things that were really emotionally heavy, that was what the title of the album should be. That transition of having someone to lean on for about a decade and having a partner and then learning to stand on your own two feet again and learning to truly love and understand yourself.
LUNA: I would love to talk more about the creative process behind My Own Company. Can you walk us through a typical writing and recording session for the album?
KIELY: The album is a mix of songs that I either wrote alone or with some of my friends, and usually what that would look like is I'd have a title or a verse or something, and take it in to work on with one of my friends. With “Anesthesia,” I had an idea for a couple of chords and the idea of this numb feeling that I really wanted to get across. when I took all the songs out to Portland to work with Tucker Martine, it was really interesting, because I took my lead guitarist with me who I've been working with him for a long time, and then we got to work with this roster of incredible dream pairings of musicians that I never thought I would get to work with, like Nate Query from The Decemberists and Andy Borger who toured with Tom Waits and Nora Jones. I never thought that I would get to do that. Usually in the studio, we were doing live takes of every song. It's inspiring because it makes you want to get it right, right away. You don't want to be doing multiple takes of each song, like get a good take as soon as you can get one, so that you've got something that you can build on.
LUNA: Have you experimented more or taken any risks – either lyrically, sonically or emotionally – with My Own Company since your previous releases?
KIELY: Absolutely, I think at first when I moved to Nashville, I was very I was truer to my folk roots. I think this new record, you can hear a lot of the rock n’ roll influence, as well as the country and all of that stuff mixed together. I grew up listening to The Kinks, The Beatles, Humble Pie and all of these great rock n’ roll artists. I feel like this was my opportunity to bring that into the mix a little bit more and I think this does a great job showing that.
LUNA: What is your favorite song from My Own Company and why do you love it? Is there a certain lyric or message that stands out to you the most?
KIELY: I would say I've been the most proud of “Beautiful” for a very long time because it took years to finish. Me and my friend Lisa wrote it together, and we kept writing and writing and rewriting it. There's a couple lines in it that I love, but the line where it's the first verse where we're talking about the younger girl, and we say, ‘you can't cry enough tears to wash away beautiful.’ I love that line. I also love the setup of the older woman in the last verse where we say, ‘up in her bedroom / she looks in the mirror / tracing lines on her face / brushing her hair / the bright shades of silver / a cascade of gray.’ Those are my favorite lines.
LUNA: How important is personal experience in shaping your songwriting, and do you find it challenging to share such vulnerable work with your listeners?
KIELY: It's interesting because I've heard from quite a lot of people that they appreciate the fact that I am incredibly upfront and honest with my music. I think that it's an important thing to do. I don't feel like it's a burden when I'm doing it because it's refreshing to get it off of my chest. I do feel like it helps people when I do it. I feel like it's this thing that's bigger than me.
LUNA: You are going on your headlining tour next month. What are you most excited for listeners to experience during this tour?
KIELY: I'm very excited. I finally get to do these songs on some bigger stages, and it's going to be me. I'm not bringing a player or anything. I think it'll be a really cool experience. I love touring that way. I feel like it allows you to really get to know the listeners, and it allows you to give them a great gift of that sonic intimacy that you get from that stripped down performance.
LUNA: Do you have any pre-show or post-show rituals that you do to help ensure you play your best set?
KIELY: I'm a big throat coat tea person. If I'm on the road and consistently touring, it's helpful. It's good for your vocal cords. I think it's important to always have honey. You never know what's going to be sticking in there, and the honey helps. Staying hydrated. You have to stay hydrated. All of those things are the big ones. You just can't get on stage feeling too distracted. You've got to make sure that your head is in the right place.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
KIELY: I'm really excited because I feel like we're finally getting there in terms of more listeners and really getting the momentum, so the plan is that I'd like to get into any studio and just continuing to record some things to keep dropping over the next year or so, so that people have plenty of stuff to hear so that we can keep that momentum going.
