Spotlight: Beautiful and Vulnerable, Sydney Ross Mitchell Shares Her Insights on “Altitude”
DREAMY AND ENCHANTING — Sydney Ross Mitchell’s lead single, “Altitude,” for her debut EP reflects her passion and truth as an artist. “Altitude” not only highlights her mesmerizing vocals, but also showcases her vulnerability. With pureness of heart, Mitchell wrote “Altitude” as “a means of catharsis; it is an attempt for me to cope not only with heartbreak, but with fear as well.” After many tears and studio frustrations, Mitchell abandoned her ideal for perfection and focused her energy on translating the feeling behind “Altitude.” Mitchell does an amazing job capturing this feeling of release, as she frees herself of tender emotions through the power of music. This track is both moving and evocative — a song that speaks a thousand words.
Mitchell is a natural-born artist. In fact, Mitchell was singing before she could talk. “My mom says that she knew I loved music before I was even born because when she was pregnant with me, at church every Sunday morning, I would get super excited and animated and start kicking her ribs as soon as the choir started singing,” Mitchell adds. While there was not a defining moment in which Mitchell discovered her gift as an artist, she has always known that she wanted to become a singer — and she trusted her intuition. “It really feels like a part of me, like something I’ve always just known.” Truly, music is in her spirit and radiates throughout her being.
On the contrary, Mitchell didn’t grow up in a particularly musical household. As the Texas-based artist was raised exclusively on early 2000s country radio, Mitchell didn’t feel a resonance to the artists that she listened to. “I think I lacked the sense of connectedness that comes from seeing yourself within another artist, from relating to their experiences,” Mitchell expresses. “It wasn’t until I got older and started discovering music that really moved me, lyrically, that I began to actually perceive a reality where I could make music that felt like me, and that it could actually work.” Mitchell’s music is raw and authentic — never holding back from who she is.
She gains inspiration for her music from her most intimate emotions and experiences. As with most of her songs, Mitchell was heartbroken when she wrote “Altitude” with Stone. The night before their session, she vividly remembers watching Free Solo, a Hulu documentary about Alex Honnold free soloing El Capitan. Through watching this film, Mitchell made the connection that many of the sentiments expressed in Free Solo reminded her of someone she knew. This feeling resonated with her so strongly that it became the heart of “Altitude.” As for the songwriting process as a whole, Mitchell uses this outlet to process through her emotions in an attempt to understand what she’s dealing with. “There’s a safety in songwriting for me,” she shares. “It’s a place where I get to be as expressive and self-indulgent as I need or want to be. It’s very therapeutic.” “Altitude” also reflects this therapeutic feeling, inviting listeners to get in tune with their emotions.
In terms of the creative process, Mitchell and Stone wrote “Altitude” together. Upon telling Stone about her idea for the song, he initially thought it was too dark. However, Mitchell held true to her vision, asking Stone to trust it, too. About halfway through, Stone turned to her and said, “I get it now.” Afterwards, the process became very organic. Mitchell and Stone ended up talking for hours as he occasionally wrote down things she said. At some point, they looked up at one another, realizing they had a song: “Altitude.” When it came time to record the vocals, Mitchell only sang through “Altitude” a couple of times before they knew they had it. “It was one of those special moments where you feel like you’ve wound up in exactly the right place at exactly the right time,” Mitchell reminisces.
For Mitchell, releasing “Altitude” has taught her to trust herself, and to not force things. While Mitchell is protective over this track, she also believes that “it’s good to release that energy, literally and metaphorically.” Mitchell and Stone wrote “Altitude” in March of 2019, and it’s been a lifeline for her since then. “I’ve recorded ‘Altitude’ somewhere between twenty and thirty times,” she explains. “It was so special to me and I wanted it to be perfect, but with every re-recording, I just felt it drifting further and further away from where I wanted it to be. No matter how technically or digitally perfect we could make it sound, I still found myself longing for the feeling of the original demo, so that’s what I decided to release. It’s been an interesting process, but something in my gut just told me that that’s what I needed to do.”
“Altitude” is such a pure and dreamy track — one that you could peacefully fall asleep to. With wisdom beyond her age, Mitchell acknowledges the power of music as it exudes such an intimate, subjective experience with the listener. Mitchell shares her insights: “Something I find really beautiful about releasing music is that, once it’s out, it doesn’t really matter what it means to me anymore. The listening experience is so unique to each individual, and every song will resonate differently with each person who hears it; what’s important to me isn’t that it makes the listener feel a specific type of emotion — I just hope it makes them feel something.” Most assuredly, “Altitude” will make listeners feel something, if not everything at once. Her angelic voice truly breaks through barriers.
Through releasing “Altitude,” Mitchell understands that, although vulnerability is inevitably challenging, it is ultimately more rewarding. Opening one's self up to criticisms, especially about something so deeply personal as “Altitude,” is to Mitchell something that can be scary. However, she reveals that, “Through this experience, I’ve found that there is something strangely empowering about completely exposing yourself, at least for me. I think at some point I decided that I couldn’t feel shame if I had nothing to hide. Music has granted me that freedom and I feel very lucky to have found it.” There is power in voicing one’s emotions and experiences, and through music, Mitchell has gained this paradoxical sense of strength in vulnerability.
On a fun note, Mitchell shares that her zodiac sign is a Taurus. While many people would describe her as pretty grounded and tenacious, she’s also very spontaneous and gets bored quite easily. There is a duality to Mitchell’s character that doesn’t quite align with her zodiac sign.
Looking towards the future, Mitchell has another single or two up her sleeve before releasing her debut EP this summer. After working so hard on her music, Mitchell is excited to finally share it with the world. MiTchell’s music is raw, pure, and beautiful — just like her. Her authenticity and vulnerability will not be diminished, and she is a light for us all to look up to.
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