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Photo by Scout Hunt
Lakeland, FL-based indie rock crooner Van Plating, is releasing her self-titled LP on November 15th. The seeds of Van Plating, the new recording project of songwriter Rachel Plating and writing partner Bradley Walden, may have been sewn upon birth, but not until being thrown through the gauntlet of human experience and tragedy was Plating able to harness the bittersweet tumult that is her eponymous debut album.
This record comes directly out of a nine year break from her musical pursuits and a period not only blessed with giving birth to and raising four children with her husband, but also two miscarriages and the harrowing experience of having to say goodbye to her children prior to an extremely risky surgery (of which the outcome was uncertain).
Van Plating is a stunning celebration of love, marriage, and life like the music world gets far too scarcely. Plating has managed to successfully find her muse again and has admirably succeeded in marrying all the experience of her time off into a rousing and heartbreaking debut album.
Today we are excited to premiere the track “Break Me” – streaming below. Quite simply, “Break Me” is a beautiful song. It floats effortlessly with a delicate piano melody, guided by Plating’s serene vocals.
In Rachel’s own words:
“‘Break Me’ is almost not a song. It’s the simplest little verse with a sighing hook that repeats itself and speaks to the feeling of the verses, without using any words. It’s an atmosphere (or a scene) more than a song. One of my favorite aspects of the arrangement of this tune is the way Courtney (Ballard) left my breaths in, very high in the mix, during those lilting, melancholy hooks. It takes you straight to my little basement writing room at the church, playing piano alone and letting all my cares out in the form of a soft melody. When I initially showed it to my writing partner, I was thinking it needed to be fleshed out, but he said the song was perfect exactly as it was. And he was right.
Adding to it would have ruined it, I think. This song is pure and vulnerable and the verse speaks to what I was feeling during a painful season. I think many women can identify with the feeling of being called, “too much.” Most of the time we’re too much or too little for the world we’re living in. Rarely are we just right in the eyes of the world. For me as a woman, and as a mother who was transitioning into a new career in a very public way, that feeling of “too much” was very raw and real. Still is, sometimes. You see, no matter who we are, no matter what we do, there will always be people who won’t understand, or who won’t see the big picture, even well-meaning people. Sometimes even our friends. And that can hurt. Instead of letting it all get to me and walking away from what I wanted to do yet again, I leaned into the pain of experience this time, and wrote a soft little song that says, “if you’re going to break me, then go ahead. I’m leaning into it. I’m sad, but I’m not afraid anymore.”
Stream the track below and be sure to connect online for more! Pre-Order HERE
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