In Relation, the debut solo record from amiskwacîy-wâskahikan, T6 / 'Edmonton, AB’ songwriter Cassia Hardy (Wares, ASKO) is an acknowledgment of the weight of the past, while searching for a means to survive the present and beyond. Stories told through commanding rhythms built from synths and strings, pushed ever forward by a relentless beat, the soundtrack to taking stock of all exquisite things lost and found.
Opening with a fever dream recollection of transgressions captured in a voicemail, In Relation makes short work of finding an enthralling rhythm for ageless anxieties. The labour of processing friends and lovers lost, housing inequality, the work cut short by a pandemic that displaced lives and opportunities and left bodies in waiting. All of these lingering memories woven into a line upon which to thread notes of tremendous beauty.
It’s Hardy’s urgent and tender vocals that make waves rise and fall upon it, syllables soaring to the heavens only to land and dance upon the earth when drawn back. Hers is a voice like a photograph that once felt new but still holds all its beauty with time on its face. Each line supported by gorgeous synths, kinetic guitars and lilting drums that draw on the spirit of the past as they build monuments to the future.
“But never them, that took the rent, it’s only us with one less jewel in the crown.” Hardy sings On “Empress”. A farewell to memories of affordable artist housing and bar top regulars lost and displaced by the gears of capitalism, given the energy of a dance floor kept warm by a light that will never fade, a furious and yearning plea to have back all the things lost. Elsewhere, on “Two Houses”, the mood becomes hushed and pensive in telling of a relationship falling apart as a home becomes empty. Later, a beautiful and haunting elegy with “Joshua”, a farewell to a life no longer present to hear the words and tears shed in their honour. An acknowledgement of the community that has held everything together, even in loss. As Hardy sings, “well there’s nothing else to do but hold who’s left.”
This is the spirit working through In Relation. The process of learning to honour the connections that have given opportunities to thrive, even in the face of pain and loss, creating a means of survival. Community and it’s relations are the ideals that will hold these tethers tight as we weave them around once more, driven by rhythms of great and tremendous beauty.
Written by Niko Stratis