Los Angeles-based artist Radicalove released “Higher Power” on January 23rd, a song she wrote in the earliest days of her sobriety – about a week in, sitting on the curb of a parking lot outside a meeting hall, barely able to stand. Two people from inside came out and carried her through the door. That moment became the song’s literal core: “I’ll take a deep breath, and I’ll walk through the door.” What started as a stripped piano ballad in her bedroom – the same room where she once struggled most – eventually grew into something far bigger, with producer Matt Vistnes shaping the arrangement and collaborator Russell Barton layering in strings from his own home studio using a BBC Orchestra VST. Mixing and mastering fell to Berd Berry, who had worked on her previous single “butterflies” and stepped in late to get this one across the finish line.
Her voice is so delicate, and the delivery in the beginning of the song feels like such a lonely person, but towards the end, as the backup vocals join her, she feels comforted, and the entire song evolves into a warm hug with all those voices enveloping you, and the vocal delivery becomes a lot warmer and more confident. The production earns every one of those layers – the orchestral strings, the anthemic rock swell, the gospel undertow – because the song’s emotional arc demands them. Nothing feels added for the sake of it. By the time the chorus lands fully, the intimacy of where it started makes the scale of where it ends up hit that much harder.
Radicalove cites Adele, The Fray, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Céline Dion as touchstones, and the influences are audible without the song collapsing under them. She’s currently taking a break from live performances to record her debut album, due in the fall. If “Higher Power” is any indication of where that’s headed, it’s worth the wait.