Written by Maria Arroyo
Singer/songwriter, Terra Lopez, performing under the moniker, Rituals of Mine, releases her first album, Hype Nostalgia, as a solo artist, out now on Carpark Records. This album reveals a lot of personal trauma and loss that Lopez has been dealing with, from the loss of her father to suicide to her best friend in a water accident.
“Those two events within that six month-period, forever changed me,” she says, “and I’m only now starting to feel like I’ve processed it after all these years.”
She shares that she never had a chance to breathe, to slow down and deal with these losses, because she was always so far into her music career. Over the years, she fought hard through these losses, through her personal struggles and mental health, Finally, in 2018, she accepted help to start piecing herself back together. Hype Nostalgia is meant to be seen from a pre-loss perspective, meaning that the album isn’t entirely about the trauma in her life, but some of the light in it as well.
Her first song, “Tether,” starts us off in a more dreamy direction with some incredibly crafted sounds. The song carries a lot of ethereal aesthetics with it, which add an element of uniqueness, which is beautifully matched with a great balance of modern hip-hop and classical all wrapped into one. There’s also a great transition between the first and second half of the song because they act as polar opposites of each other.
Carrying those same haunting vocals that becomes a staple of the album is their next song, “Come Around Me.” Written from her perspective as a gay woman of color in the music industry, she uses her voice to keep the listener engaged from beginning to end. Those same vocals have a way of bringing you right inside her head, tangled in her thoughts, to get a complete picture of it all.
“Exceptions” is anything but. Once again, the vocals bring you further into the music and energy that her song gives off is infectious to say the least. She has a way of washing these trance-like moments around the listener, as to almost feel embraced by it.
Bringing in a little more of an abrasive feel to the album is the track, “Trauma.” The style is fitting for the idea behind the song, and I think that the intense energy that forms from the style is very well done. This track’s extremely catchy and has an amazing feel to it. She manages to expose a more raw and vulnerable side to her music, and I loved that. Following this track is “Post Trauma,” which acts as a smaller transition or buffer, between the other songs.
Another favorite of the album is “Free Throw” (feat. Kris). Lopez creates this song as a way of “meditating on the fake support that comes from their male counterparts in the music industry.” As a woman of color in the music industry, I can understand this perspective, and acknowledge a lot of the hardships that people in our shoes, unfortunately, have to encounter. The song has a lot of different layers that bring it to life, but they all work novelty together and create a smooth and enjoyable listen.
This is followed by “Reflex” which brings us to a more mellowed out sound that can be enjoyed even more after a heavier song. “65th St” is another amazingly executed piece that stimulates me both in its structure, and lyrical content. It’s raw and very emotionally stimulating, while still managing to not feel overworked or excessive. I think her musicianship really shined in this song, which is always a plus. Their next track “Hope U Feel” adds an even stronger sense of realness to it, which is pretty forward already, but is really exploited in this song.
Closing out the album is their final track, “The Last Wave.” It’s definitely not the way I expected the album to end, but I still appreciate it nonetheless. There’s a dark intensity in both the instrumentation and in her vocal performance that is both haunting and breathtaking.
Hype Nostalgia reflects on Terra Lopez’s life as she’s lived it, and wants it to turn into something that others struggling with mental health can grab onto.
“I just want to help other people,” Lopez shares. “That’s what really helped me stay focused throughout all of this.” Her new album is an “all-encompassing look at Lopez’s personal growth and resilience” which is unimaginably remarkable. With every listen, I feel like I really understand her perspective, and appreciate it even more as she opens her heart to some pretty heavy topics. Hype Nostalgia is one for the people who are looking for something more stimulating than some nice vocals, who really want to connect with music on a deeper level, and Rituals of Mine is here for it all.
Connect with Rituals of Mine
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Soundcloud | YouTube | Spotify | Twitch | Apple Music
