Austin-based songwriter Riya Mahesh has been putting out music as Quiet Light for a couple of years and is currently building towards her second EP, Stories I Am Now Telling You, which was inspired on part by Joan Didion. The songs “Til I Get Tired” and “Alight” are already out in the world, and today she shares another called “Saltwater”.
Mahesh details the new single’s creation on family holiday, saying: “There is something so quintessentially human about being in a beautiful place and not being able to appreciate that beauty because internally you feel terribly. We got to Florida and I was just so in my head the whole trip that I did not enjoy my time there. I would sit at the beach reading Eve Babitz and stare at the ocean thinking oh my god my life is in shambles.”
On the emotional turmoil she adds: “The song opens with “you’re the sea of saltwater, I was looking for a drink.” There is an abundance of water in the ocean, but none of it is drinking water and this is supposed to encapsulate the relationship that I was in at the time. My needs are not being met but I keep trying to make it work. Although I love this person, I am starting to get tired of trying. And whilst the verses describe my turmoil the choruses describe my post-breakup world. It describes my life as being single. I have moved on from my dream of leaving to the West Coast and have given up on this concept of looking for this perfect person to love. I am okay being by myself and that’s all I need at this point in my life.”
“Saltwater” begins with acoustic guitar strums that are as bright and open as a day on a gorgeous Florida beach, but as soon as Mahesh’s voice comes in the dissonance is clear. In a style reminiscent of early Waxahatchee, she is clear and open about her pain – and her lack of ability to get over it. She’s vicious even as her voice remains loquacious, comparing herself to a baby and determining that she’ll never get over the break up. As “Saltwater” wheels into its final segment, looped sounds bulk out the track beautifully, almost romantically – except this is a break-up song, and she can’t help but admit that she’ll keep hopelessly trying, she’ll go on loving until her heart explodes. There’s equal amounts of defeat and determination in her voice – the sound of someone with fresh wounds looking ahead and having nothing but hope to guide them to where they’re supposed to be.
Quiet Lights Stories I Am Now Telling You EP is coming out on April 8. Make sure to stay tuned to her Instagram and Bandcamp for more.
