An healing journey through music: "Ocean Inside Of Me", the latest album by Luna Keller

-
Ocean inside of me Luna Keller
Luna Keller

Growing up between two cultures and surrounded by music, Luna Keller is a singer-songwriter with a unique perspective fuelled by her curiosity and a deep connection to her emotions through songwriting. Her family moved from Germany to Spain when she was just 6 months old. As a result she grew up far away from most of her family and traveled often from a young age. Music was always a part of her life starting with her parents singing and playing the guitar for her to fall asleep and leading to her eventually falling in love with songwriting. Through it she found a true connection to herself, going as far as calling her songs "friends" that help her process life. Strong messages, honest lyrics and emotional vocals define Keller’s sound. I had the pleasure to interview her on Instagram about her journey and her latest album. Luna is definitely the most inspiring and prolific songwriter I've ever met - she enchants the listeners with her lyrics and her voice, gracefully inviting them in her feelings and making everyone feel less alone and more interconnected as a result. 

Luna Keller's last album is a labor of love, a big collaboration project that combines her great songwriting skills with the talent of many other artists. The album tells the story of Luna's healing journey from depression, and it's so heartfelt, so deep, and so precise in describing the evolution of feelings and emotions through the recovery that you can't listen to it without feeling completely moved. I don't share it often, but I personally struggled with anxiety and depression in 2017-2020, and I can totally resonate with Luna's feelings and journey. Although I'm in a much better place now, seeing the path I went through being so well described is poignant and uplifting at the same time. I want to really give a big shoutout to Luna not only for her talent but also for the courage in sharing such vulnerable lyrics and for embarking in this masterpiece musical work. Each song of the album is accompanied by a wonderfully released music video. In each of them you can appreciate the care, the love and the work that have been put into it by multiple professionals, with a stunning result. I saw someone describing Luna as a "creative visionary" and I can't agree more. Her commitment in releasing a song/video per month starting from October 2023, and consistently creating social media content to accompany each release is admirable.

From a musical point of view, what I love most about this album are the ethereal, evocative vocals that beautifully portray the authentic lyrics, and the great production work - big shoutout to Dominic Romano that was able to create "out of space" atmospheres and dreamy echoes. This album in its totality is something that is really rare to see (and hear!) in the indie music world, for the amount of effort, professionals and talent that have been involved.

The album starts with the title track OCEAN INSIDE OF ME, that she wrote back in 2019 when she was struggling with depression. She wrote this song on the seashore of Tenerife when although she had many reasons to feel happy after a good day she felt so deeply sad and struggling inside. While writing down the lyrics that came out from her heart, she admitted for the first time that her mental health was not okay and that she was afraid to share these feelings with others. This was the first step of the healing journey that is wonderfully told in this album, with its INVISIBLE WARS (about how hard it can be to talk about what's going on inside us, and you end up fighting in silence hoping it will get better), its PATTERNS, its shame (portrayed in SWALLOW THE SEA), its lowest points (represented in IF I WAS NO MORE, the turning point song of the album when Luna faces her darkest moment and decides to go on), its doubts (we can hear them in NOT READY), its found help (portrayed in SHOULDER, written with Dom Malin, a celebration of friendship), its up and downs (in SHE'S NOT GOOD FOR ME about accepting ones inner darkness without letting it define you) and its final light at the end of the tunnel (in LIGHTER THAN BEFORE and WOMAN IN MY MIRROR).

Luna is a big community builder as well! In 2022 she moved to Germany where she's working as a full time indie artist recording, writing and touring Europe extensively playing shows in Sweden, Latvia, England, Ireland, Wales, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Germany. During this time she also built a community on Twitch where she regularly streams for her almost 4000 followers. Luna's album "OCEAN INSIDE OF ME" was crowdfunded in summer 2023 raising 17k for the production of CD's vinyl and 10 interconnected music videos that accompany the songs, a deeply personal project inspired by a mental health struggle that culminates in a message of self-love.

 

Instagram: @lunakellermusic

Linktree: Luna Keller

Liked this article? Follow the journey of Laura Meets Musicians on Instagram and YouTube.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LuisG releases "Second Chances", an heartfelt album about life, hope for the future and sobriety

-
Image
LuisG With roots in indie rock, pop, emo, folk and a Southern California vibe, LuisG delivers a powerful melodic style, charming story-telling, and relatable lyrics.  Based in Las Cruces, NM, where he lives with his wife, his 2 cats and dog, he has established a name for himself in online spaces and local circles, recording and producing from his own home studio.  His music sounds like a combination of pop, emo, folk, indie rock with a Southern California beach vibe.   He released his debut EP back in 2022 and in the following years he continued to create new music, reaching the pinnacle with his latest album "Second Chances" , released on May 10th, 2024. H e wrote it after a serious health crisis that made him re-evaluate many things about his life. As LuisG states "Second Chances is an album about reflecting and remembering the things that are important in life, and moving into a new chapter.  Some of the very dark and difficult moments I’ve lived in the past year have
Read more

Older country, folk and rock'n'roll vibes in the upcoming album by Drew Kiddoo and the Blackouts

-
Image
Drew Kiddoo and the Blackouts Drew Kiddoo And The Blackouts is a honky tonk country band based out of Ithaca , NY. Their unique blend of traditional country western, folk, and early rock and roll has captivated audiences across the region since they formed in 2018. Drew's songwriting is the heart and soul of the band. He writes from personal experience, and his lyrics are infused with love, whiskey, the open road, and that old "crying over an empty glass of booze" style of melancholy. The Blackouts are a misfit collage of local musicians who bring Drew's songs to life with that boot stompin', barn-burnin' energy. The album "Giddyup and Go" will be released on June 14th, in accordance with the release party set for the same date at The Range in Ithaca, next to Cornell University. I had the opportunity to listen to the full lenght album in advance, and I can't wait to share my personal take on it! "Giddyup and Go" is a collection of song
Read more

A cozy place where like-minded souls connect: welcome to The North Café!

-
Image
The North Café Series: the storytelling episodes Among all the musical projects that I've watched growing up from scratch, The North Café Project is definitely my favourite. Passion, storytelling, art, instrumental music, love... this ambitious musical project has them all, and even more. Conceived of and created across continents in the aftermath of a global pandemic, it is the brainchild of instrumentalist, John Silvers (USA/UK), who has collaborated with co-founder and musician, Elfin Bow (UK), sound designer and producer, Woody Woodward (UK), visual artist, Gus Lopez (USA) and mastering engineer, Derek Smyth (AUS) to create a unique and intimate offering of story and music. At a time of division and isolation, this global effort to unite and uplift, is a double album release comprising both an episodic story in four parts, with instrumental musical excerpts, and an accompanying album of the full compositions by John Silvers (ukulele) and Elfin Bow (piano).  Creating someth
Read more

News: Vintz Desert releases his new EP "The Blue Journal"

-
Image
Vintz Desert Vintz Desert is an indie folk singer-songwriter located in Maryland. While serving in the Marine Corps, Vintz fine-tuned his craft and discovered his voice and passion for telling stories and sharing emotions through song. He released his debut EP "Through the smoke; a liar" when he was still in the middle of his military contract and didn't know anything about music industry. The EP features his top streaming song "Love in Boston". Then he relocated to the east coast where he opened up for folk rock band Oliver Hazard. He can be described as "beautifully melancholic" and focuses on direct relatable stories. His soft-spoken and raspy voice transfers his pain and experiences from him to his audience, and enters into a symbiotic relationship with them.  He just released his latest EP "The Blue Journal" on May 20th, an introspective and soft jouney through his feelings. His music has been mind-blowing for me since the very first
Read more

Going out the comfort zone with Mariano Mallia's new single "The Search For More"

-
Image
Mariano Mallia Singer/songwriter Mariano Mallia is a familiar face for those who have followed my blog for awhile. I talked about his inspiring and challenging story when he released his debut single "Don't Change" , after a vocal injury that stopped him from making music for years (you can read here ).  Mariano Mallia, who spent childhood summers visiting family members in Italy, says that it was in Italy that his passion for music was first born.  From those times, Mallia developed a deep appreciation for music, and ultimately decided to devote his life to music. However, the young singer’s pursuit was put to a halt in December of 2018 when he suddenly lost his voice. We talked further about his journey and the challenges he had to face when I interviewed him on YouTube (see here ). Despite the difficulties, Mariano refused to give up on his dream of pursuing music. Since the beginning of 2023, he has consistently released one single each month, putting hard work, musi
Read more