First Impressions: “Are You Still Here?” by Joana Serrat

As has become increasingly common, the oxygen’s been sucked out of the room for lesser-known artists this weekend due to a superstar’s latest release. That’s not a dig at the superstar, I hasten to add, but the media social and traditional, both of which chase the clicks and hits at the expense of everyone else. We as a people should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Which leads to this: Figurative ghosts ride inside the grooves of “Are You Still Here?,” the second single from Joana Serrat’s forthcoming Big Wave album. Anyone who’s lost a loved one is sure to hear ourselves in the song, much as we feel—and/or remember—our loved ones in our day-to-day lives. We look for signs, hoping that they send us a message from beyond the great divide. In short, “Are You Still Here?” is an ethereal wonder accented by apparitions. I can’t help but to remember my parents, mother-in-law, and many great aunts and uncles, when listening to it.

On Instagram, Joana wrote, “I wrote this song in the loving memory of my grandma, Rosa, after her passing. It’s my humble homage to a wonderful woman who I happened to be born on her birthday.” To share a birthday must amplify her absence all the more—and, too, bring her spirit that much closer.

The album can be pre-ordered over at Bandcamp. If this track and the first single, “The Cord,” are representative of the album as a whole, it’s going to be a great set.