Amanda Kind wrestles with the grief of heartbreak in her tender single and lyric video Easier — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Based on a personal experience she describes as “the intersection of grief and rejection,” Kind experienced a difficult breakup that wasn’t her choice. “Knowing that someone you love(d) is out there in the world, happier without you, is a complicated pain,” she shares. “I kept thinking, ‘does it get easier?’ That question turned into a refrain.”
With a lyric video and cover art that make use of ocean imagery, Kind presents her alt-pop ballad with a bold, full-bodied confidence over elegant piano and strings. Listeners feel the engulfing pain, riding the waves of courage needed to move forward, before being enveloped in the searing heartache all over again; her voice soars above the choppy waters, the horizon always in sight, until she finds resolve.
Born in British Columbia and based in Ontario, Kind is a multi-talented singer and songwriter with a wide range and a powerful voice; she is known as much for her own work as she is as one of the area’s most in-demand vocal coaches. When the pandemic capsized the music industry, the change of routine allowed time to reflect on her own journey as an artist.
After years of teaching students to claim their space, use their voices and do what they love, no matter what, Amanda realized she needed to re-apply those lessons to her own life; she joined a number of virtual songwriting groups, met musicians and performers from across the country, reconnected with old performer friends, and began voraciously writing new music. Easier is one of the fruits of that time of radical self-care, created with songwriter and producer Sam Hillifer (JP Sunga, Safe as Houses, Will Currie and The Country French).
As personal as the song is, the two considered many iterations of loss while writing Easier. “We talked about all the kinds of loss where the other person is still out there living in the world: Divorce. One-sided break-ups. Losing someone slowly to dementia or Alzheimer’s. Fractured friendships. Broken families,” she recalls. Essentially, “the scenarios where you thought that person would always be in your life, and now they aren’t.”
Writing Easier proved a cathartic and essential gateway to healing for Amanda. “Ironically, it helped me process the pain and made it easier to accept,” she says. “I hope it will strike a chord with others who have experienced the dissolution of an important relationship. It’s a special kind of grief.”
Watch Easier above, hear more from Amanda Kind below, and connect with her on her website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
