When Bailey Nadeen asked that we meet at the Citadel Theatre in downtown Edmonton back in February – I didn’t think twice about driving my car there, giving myself just a few minutes to park and make my way to the entrance.
A mistake.
The underground parking downtown is a maze and I’m an anxious driver. After finding my way up & out of the library(?) and giving her a frantic instagram call(??), we finally found each other.
Bailey’s presence is warm and inviting. She speaks softly, but with the confidence of a 23 year old that has been vulnerably creative her whole life. She’s been singing since church choir and starring in musical theatre productions since Elementary school. Her history at the Citadel is obvious as she gets comfortable in the entrance and gently greets the security guard – who quickly lets us know we aren’t allowed to take pictures there, ha.
We were speaking a few days ahead of her releasing a new song( and music video). The track, featuring her friend Sawyer Begg, is called 1964 and is an ode to Simon & Garfunkel, with every line relating to one of their hits. It is her 4th release since 2020.
Tell me about 1964, in your own words.
“Ok, I wrote it in the spring of 2021, so 2 years ago now. It started with the feeling of just being stuck. You’re an artist, like ‘this is my craft and I know what I want to do’ and I was sticking to a schedule and just living life – doing my routine, going to work, and It’s like ‘ok, I’m doing everything I’m supposed to, so why do I feel this way?’ Or if I tell anybody about it, they’re like ‘well, why?’”
The bridge, ‘I don’t know how to say I feel sad all the time, ’cause God there are so many who would kill for a life like mine’, says it’s all. We feel guilty for being happy because others suffer. We feel guilty for not being happy because others suffer more. It’s like we are so sure that others will invalidate our feelings, that we make sure to invalidate them first.
But she says the scariest part isn’t even a fear of people resonating with the message. It’s the expectations that come with its release. The battle of staying true to your artistry while also having to promote your artistry in a way that will be seen by the most eyes.
“You write the song, and then you get to the point where you’re kind of promoting it as a product. Are you going to make a TikTok video? Are you going to make weird little instagram stories? Once you’re past the point of writing and recording it, it becomes a business move. And then it’s like – what comes next?”
On that day in February, talking about 1964, Bailey casually mentions that she’s thinking of releasing her debut album this year because she “has a whole drive of songs”.
Ha. Okay… no big deal?
Now it’s July 8th and her debut album The Mess You Leave is dropping at midnight tonight (TONIGHT!!!), and 1964 is the opening track. So, of course, you all deserve a follow up:
Tell me about the title, “The Mess You Leave.”
The title of the album is a direct line from one of the songs, Golden Girls, which goes: I wish you knew the mess you leave. I wanted to find a title that somehow related to all of the songs on the album. I enjoy self titled pieces of work, but it felt more my style to find a stand alone title for the project.
Is there a general theme to your album?
I guess the overall theme is that it is an album about picking up the pieces. The recognition that there is work needing to be done and a mess that needs cleaned up. Life can be a shit show and we are sometimes put into circumstances that feel like a HUGE mess. This can be because of our own actions or the actions of others, however, at the end of the day, there is still work to be done. Regardless of the pain, it is our job to find a way to deal with it and live with it. I think overall, the album revolves around the recognition of that process. One of my favorite quotes is by the poet Rudy Francisco, “sometimes I’m the mess, sometimes I’m the broom. On the hardest days, I have to be both.”
Are there any specific musical inspirations that we can expect to hear on this album? Either lyrically or musically.
I grew up with a lot of folk music, so I am sure there are little bits of Joni Mitchell or the Rankin Family (an irish band) throughout the songs. As a young teenager, I listened to Birdy and Phoebe Bridgers on loop so I feel like my habit of going to high harmonies during a chorus is because of that.
What is your favourite song on the album?
I really adore the song Elizabeth and it is the one I am most proud of, both lyrically and musically. To me, it’s a happy song. It’s about this woman who feels haunted by her past, in my mind I saw this lady walking through an upstairs hallway with a bunch of little spirits following her. They’re calling out to her to say that they’re there, but she can’t hear them. The song is a direct message to her as if to say: the only bad things that haunt us are what we allow ourselves to be haunted by. I think that everybody has ghosts (both literally and physically), some are good and some are bad. We have the choice of what to focus on and where we want life to go.
I think the most personal track on the album is INFP, which gets its name from the personality type that I got on the Psychology “16 Personalities” Quiz. I wrote it after I realized that I had 50 unread text messages on my phone…some from WEEKS ago that I had mentally took note of, but never responded. My thought process is always “well it feels SO AWKWARD to respond now” or “omg what if this person that I don’t know super well asks to hang out and I don’t have the social battery for it or we go out and I have NOTHING to say!”
She invited me to celebrate its (pre-)release along with her friends Sammy Volkov, Jackson Card, The Victors, Dane Bjornson, Sawyer Begg, Jeremy Gutierrez, Riwo, and Bella November on Friday, June 30th, 2023 at Co*Lab.
Here are some photos I took (and as per usual, please do not ask me why I edit everything pink thank you):
