Shaolinn - Blackstone (EP)
On her 2nd EP, Shaolinn delivers something very poignantly reflective of herself. Immediately we get to know some of her inner thoughts as she spills them with a “Heavy Heart”. It sucks when you have the words to say but just don’t know how to say them in that very moment, same goes with love, some of us just have a harder time at really showing it & she admits, she could’ve shown more understanding towards her ride or die but instead probably pushed them away, unintentionally at that. It’s hard to tell people how you really feel cause of that fear of them not accepting it, or you even, as she states she felt all throughout her teen years, not feeling confident in her own skin.
The vulnerability exhibited throughout these tracks can anneal even the most shattered of glass hearts as I’m sure it did the same for hers upon crafting these records. The heartfelt nature continues on the stripped down acoustic tinged number “Head Down”. It’s sad when two people who once loved each other grow apart & I must admit, that for the longest time, I never really thought about how my behavior affected my partner, you get comfortable & just assume they won’t leave no matter what but there’s only so much one person can take before they can finally muster up the courage to just walk away & finally keep their head up for once in their life. She kept her head down throughout all this abuse for too long but something had to give at some point.
Her words are hitting me like a proverbial ton of bricks, I have to be honest, these statements she proclaims throughout are all things I had to hear unfortunately & she’s more than justified in feeling that way, this person was too neglectful. Why should they get praise for doing the bare minimum when underneath all of that was just sheer chaos? The truth won’t always set you free so sometimes, we’d much rather accept the lies cause they’re more comfortable but we’re only hurting ourselves by doing that so it’s best to just depart at that point, the damage has already been done so all that’s left is to sit with the repercussions, pluck away at the petals on the “Flowers” she was once given until they all wilt away so as to hopefully plant new seeds of growth.