Most 18-year-olds spend their final weeks of high school either stressing for the upcoming plunge into adulthood or lackadaisically enjoying the last hoorah of their carefree youth.
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Portland, Maine’s Genevieve Stokes, however, did something different entirely; she launched an impressive music career.
But don’t let Stokes’ young age fool you; her new single “Surface Tension” — the first single off her upcoming debut EP, due sometime this summer — is a prime cut of pop. With glossy production and a feel-good atmosphere hanging out behind Stokes’ rich voice, the song sounds aged well beyond its writer’s years.
“I wrote ‘Surface Tension’ my junior year of high school,” the 18-year-old told American Songwriter. “It wasn’t properly recorded until Spring Break my senior year. I wanted to record it in a new environment, so I worked out of a cabin-Airbnb in my hometown.”
“I internalized a lot of my emotions, so writing ‘Surface Tension’ helped me fully understand and contextualize how I was feeling,” Stokes said. “I was in a place where I felt disconnected from myself and was struggling to feel recognized in my relationships.”
“I write at my best when I am alone in my room and, most likely, sad,” Stokes continued. “When I was still in school, I’d come home from a bad day and write for hours. Now my writing process is more sporadic, but still very much affected by my mood and location.”
Check out Genevieve Stokes’ new single “Surface Tension” below:
Love this sound.