Some of the Songs on "Lessons Not Learned"

By SARIKA

One thing that I find really interesting about the EP as a whole is that only half of the songs are about romantic relationships. As a pop artist I feel like the norm in my genre is to write primarily about love or breakups, and especially when I was younger, I felt a lot of pressure to write about that stuff even when it wasn’t a super significant part of my life. That’s how I ended up with songs like “Something Blue” and “Nightrunner,” which, fun fact, aren’t actually based on personal experience–I’ve never gotten back with an ex or had a dream that my ex was marrying someone else.

The three songs that aren’t about romance are “From Inside The House,” “Paper Mind,” and “Everything’s On Fire.” I think “Everything’s On Fire” in particular is interesting because it’s supposed to sound like a love song on the surface, but it’s really a critique about people’s preoccupation with their own individual lives and indifference to collective problems like the climate crisis. This meaning becomes especially clear in the bridge. 

“Everything’s On Fire” also stands out to me sonically. I generally love a song that builds dramatically from the beginning to the end, but this one does it in a particularly drastic way, starting off with a super simple piano and voice arrangement, then growing to include very sweet sounding backing vocals and instrument parts, then finally taking a dark and chaotic turn in the bridge.

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I want to thank SARIKA for taking the time to share this look at her EP with us. 

Be sure to follow her on Instagram, and Spotify to be sure you won't miss anything (including her two most recent singles)! You'll also want to check out every other time SARIKA has appeared here on Section 36 Music!

Thanks again SARIKA!