Q&A: Love Lingers like a Ghost on Beatrix’s ‘We Swallowed The Sky’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
Makayla Keasler
SOME LOVES DON’T FADE — they haunt you. On We Swallowed The Sky, Beatrix — the orchestral indie-rock project of Arielle Kasnetz — returns to the past as a presence that refuses to settle. Here, she inhabits the role of the ghost, circling what once was and imagining what it means not just to remember a love, but to haunt it.
Released April 24, the album unfolds like a quiet séance, rooted in the idea of a love that never fully dissolved. Beatrix imagines its afterlife, what it means to haunt a former lover and to become the ghost that refuses to be forgotten. At the center of that presence is the pedal steel, an instrument that threads through the album. It bends and wavers between moments, slipping across timelines, embodying the ghost that Beatrix conjures.
“This record is mainly about a relationship that I had 10 years ago, and I wanted to come back and haunt this person from the future,” Beatrix says to Luna. “I'm a ghost coming back to remind him of the ways that he's wronged me.”
With an expansive, yearning sound that combines alternative singer-songwriter influences in the form of indie rock, folk and chamber-pop, it’s the sound of a songwriter as committed to honesty and self-exploration as to constant musical progression. The songs are striking and off-kilter, full of surprising melodic turns or boldly arranged instrumentals, and careening from hushed piano numbers to loud full-band blasts.
We Swallowed The Sky feels deeply self-possessed, even as it wrestles with vulnerability. It’s not an attempt to clarify the past so much as to inhabit it on her own terms. It’s unmistakably Beatrix’s story, told in a voice that feels more fully realized than ever before, even as it echoes with everything that came before.
Rogue Bonaventura
LUNA: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Luna again. It's super exciting to have you back since the last time we talked when “Dead Dog” was released. What inspires you to push boundaries within your sound? Are there any specific experiences, artists, or moments that have encouraged you to explore new musical territories?
BEATRIX: When I made my first record, it was really DIY. I self funded everything. I didn't have a record label, so I wasn't really fully able to realize the sound that I had in my mind for my first album. But this time around, I was able to get a band and record live in a studio. For my first record, we would do each instrument layer by layer, and we actually did the drums last, which is a weird way to order things, but it was a totally different experience to be able to go into a studio, play, and sing at the same time for some of the songs with the full band, and that definitely like helps to inform the sound.
LUNA: You released your sophomore album We Swallowed The Sky and a huge congratulations is in order! You revisit a past relationship. What emotions or inspirations did you feel compelled to explore this time around?
BEATRIX: This record is mainly about a relationship that I had 10 years ago, and I wanted to come back and haunt this person from the future. That's what my song, “Ghost of Tennessee” is about. I'm a ghost coming back to remind him of the ways that he's wronged me. But outside of that relationship, it's also about the same period my parents got a divorce, and so I lost my family as I knew it. It was just a period where I was completely grieving what I used to be and who I used to be, and felt really disoriented. At the time, I wasn't writing music yet, so that's why it resurfaced all these years later. I feel like there was just a lot to write about and process that I hadn't done in song yet.
LUNA: In what ways did the We Swallowed The Sky record push you further into your own artistic identity compared to your debut Vertigo? Was there a specific moment in the process where you felt, “this is unmistakably me?”
BEATRIX: The first record still feels like it was me at that time, and this is me at this time. That's the beauty of records is it's a record of the time. With my first record, I wasn't fully able to realize the sound that was in my head. And this time around, I feel like with the experience that I had from making the first album, and also being a producer on the first record, and this record, I just have learned a lot about certain technical things, and I'm more able to articulate what I want from a technical perspective. I feel like I got closer to the vision.
LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on We Swallowed The Sky — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing of who Beatrix is right now?
BEATRIX: My favorite song on the record is called “Hole to China.” It's the most stripped down song out of the whole record. It's mainly just me playing piano and singing, and then there's a beautiful string arrangement on top. It's the most bare and it's the most just me playing things on the record. For my first album, I was not quite yet secure in my guitar playing. I think also because I had an amazing guitar player co-produce the record with me and I played a little bit on the first record. But this time around, I felt really confident and encouraged by the producers that I was working with to play more things myself. I'm really proud of that song and that record.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
BEATRIX: That's a great question. It is in some ways a breakup album where I'm pining and reflecting over a man. I feel like being a producer on this record and stepping into my own and realizing my own vision has made me feel more confident in myself. My message to other people and other female artists specifically, would just be to trust yourself and your instincts because it's all about your vision and you need to be happy with what you make by the end of it. Don't be afraid to try playing and producing.
LUNA: How are you celebrating the album release?
BEATRIX: I have a show. I'm playing an album release show at Healing Force of the Universe in Pasadena this Friday at 8:00 p.m. We're going to play the whole album from top to bottom, and I'm also going to have vinyl and new merch for sale. I'm really excited for that show.
LUNA: What is fueling your fire right now that’s pushing you into this new chapter in your career?
BEATRIX: I was involved in an incident in November. I was attacked by someone on the street who stabbed me in the shoulder from behind, and it was really traumatic and scary, but it also was a near death experience that made me have a new appreciation for life. I just feel so grateful that I get to wake up every day and I get to do this. I feel just really excited to make new music and to keep living.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
BEATRIX: I'm so excited right now. I'm so excited for my album to come out. This is such a big week. The rest of the year, I hope to be touring more the rest of the year. There's nothing solid yet, but we are putting out feelers for things. I'm just excited for people to hear the record, and we'll see what happens.
