LISTEN: After Love and Loss, Amanda Keeley Finds ‘Better Days’
Acceptance is a vital part of moving on at the end of a relationship. That means coming to terms with everything that relationship was or wasn’t, and everything that it did — or did not — have the potential to be.
Amanda Keeley hits us with that realization with her new single, “Better Days.” The resilient tune paints expired love through an objective lens — an important part of the recovery process.
“The words came to me at a time where I needed help processing the loss and letting go of a longtime relationship,” Keeley said. “I’m grateful for this song finding its way through me as it helped immensely with closure and moving forward from a place of love.”
Keeley’s smoky vocals call to mind the soulful delivery of contemporaries like Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile, while the spellbinding, rhythmic folk-rock instrumental of “Better Days” conjures shades of Fleetwood Mac. The song’s steadfast tempo marches us along, akin to the days and weeks which provide clarity following a breakup.
“As a songwriter, I interpret many life experiences through songs. In this case, I found myself with certain lines floating through my mind like, ‘thought we were more than this, let us go, let it die, all the flowers have dried and just dust in the wind,'” Keeley said. “It really felt like the perfect way to clearly communicate how I was feeling. The grief I was experiencing was pretty intense; the ‘flowers’ felt like a representation of the need for a funeral of sorts to really grieve this loss, and once the flowers ‘dried and just dust in the wind,’ this was me coming to terms with it being over and letting go.”
“Better Days” is part of Keeley’s forthcoming album, which will dive further into the topics of loving, losing, and learning to love again.
“(The album) will be a compilation of songs telling stories of love; finding ourselves, our place in this world, and the one’s we’re meant to be with,” Keeley said. Also, stories of loss; heartbreak, letting go, and finally healing.”
