In November 2022, Nova Scotian musician Alana Yorke woke up one morning unable to move her left arm. After several days and numerous tests, she was diagnosed with a haemorrhagic stroke affecting the right hemisphere of her brain. Fast forward a few months, and Alana has uniquely used this experience as a self-proclaimed serendipitous force driving the creation of her upcoming album, “Destroyer”. Her desire to share her journey with a dedicated audience has been consuming. “The goal was to bring these images and stories back to our world,” she explains. Now, Yorke shares a double single from the project as we delve into her creative process.
Listen to “Tidal Wave” and “Preludium” here…
What was the inspiration behind the “Tidal Wave” video? What do you want the fans to take away from it?
The video for Tidal Wave is about the different parts of the self and the relationships between those parts. We were inspired to explore the hard-working, focused, self-critical self, but also to acknowledge that that part of one’s self is limited and that there are other parts that want to let go, be less perfect, express freely, be at peace with the self, to have fun and let loose. The director Annaka Gale (who coined this video as a “dance-tasy”, short for dance fantasy) and I worked on the concept for this song over many months and it always had a dance theme at its centre which evolved and became more refined over time, as did the relationship story. We were very inspired by visuals from both Suspiria films (1977 and 2018). When Kerri Heslop entered and started to work on the choreography, she brought out the ways I naturally move to help express myself and the meaning of the song, and she truly helped me to achieve the visual aesthetic I was going for which I had previously thought was impossible. Our dance inspirations included Graham technique and elements of ballet. Tidal Wave the song was originally about a heart-breaking romantic relationship, but I love that we explored the meaning of the relationship with the self in this interpretation. I want fans to take away from it that you can do anything that you set your mind to, and that letting go, although terrifying and seemingly impossible, can lead to things far beyond what you can imagine. I guess it’s about transformation and this is a huge departure for me. I changed my body to make this video. I really had to step outside of my comfort zone.
Watch the video…
What prompted the double-single release of “Tidal Wave” and “Preludium”? Is there a connection between the songs?
Tidal Wave is a much more accessible, obviously popular, catchy song which is a departure for me so as I released it, I wanted to show another side of myself at the same time. “Preludium” is much deeper, much moodier, more atmospheric and cinematic. I feel the single art captures the meaning of each song perfectly, like something is going to hit you and transform you and the water illustrates that in the artwork. With Tidal Wave, it’s the relationship that is hitting you and changing you (“wrecking you” so to speak), and in the case of “Preludium”, I find the “wrecking” effect is more through the emotional intensity of the music itself. But water and waves link the two for me — when I hear the cymbal hits ringing out late in “Preludium” I just hear crashing waves washing over me, causing a transformation. I find both songs very powerful in very different ways and I truly hope that people come for Tidal Wave and stay to experience “Preludium”. Ian Bent’s string arrangement in “Preludium”, for example, is just so impactful. I remember when we came home from the orchestral string session we were just so proud of how that one turned out and we felt we’d changed the world in some small way.
Can you sum up the vibe of the forthcoming Destroyer LP using one line from a song on the album?
There are many themes that resonate and swirl around on Destroyer, but if I had to pick one line it would be the chorus from Léa: “I love you, and you can do anything”. When you strip everything away in your life and you are vulnerable, and you could either sink (and die), or you could swim (and thrive) [picture the album cover for Destroyer], I want people to know the message that came to me (via a journey with my spirit guide): “I love you, and you can do anything”. That comes from deep inside the self. That’s all you really need.
Has the recent experience that you have endured coloured the way you approach your new album and how you feel about future projects?
It colours it massively. Everything I do now is motivated by how I experience the world (the area of my brain that was affected by my stroke controls my senses) and I now have this compelling motivation to express myself in artistic ways that totally eclipses any prior fear I had or hesitation. I still have those, but this tips the scales to forward momentum, and I have an undeniable drive to create what I can see in my mind. I now have very clear, expressive, creative ideas, and I will follow them down, no matter what it takes. I just need to express myself now and that has extended beyond music to include more visual forms. But ultimately, I’m a musical artist and so I’m super excited to be back out performing soon and expressing myself through my new live show. I know from rehearsal that I’m really different now musically as well, that the drive to be myself and express myself musically outweighs all else. I’m less self-conscious and controlled. I am driven to express the emotion of the songs and their meaning. I mean, I lost “Alana Yorke”, we all did, and so I will never take my unique sound and performance abilities for granted again. They are fleeting. Life is fleeting.