“All My Friends” is a track of whimsical desperation as singer-songwriter Kelsey Abbott grapples with the uncertainties of this year.
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She writes our inner-thoughts with candid ease, singing in the chorus, “And I’m just trying to make it out alive / At this point I’m an inch above water / And I’m just trying to get back to the way it used to be.”
Abbott cleverly keeps “the way it used to be” ambiguous, as if to allow listeners to fill in their own blanks. Blanks that could only encapsulate those distant times of contentment and tranquility.
It’s an anthemic track that most of us can relate to, written out of the angst of unforeseen circumstances, sheer frustration and plans that never came to fruition.
“This is a song I wrote in the midst of all of the chaos that this year has presented. It began to feel like I was living the same day over and over and in conversations with friends, I found I had nothing new to talk about,” she explains. “This is a song about that feeling of repetition in your routine and your emotions. This song is about trying to hold on to any good you can find in an unideal situation and the immense gratefulness I felt for my friends during this time. I wrote this song because I needed an outlet to vent about the uncertainty of the future and the nostalgia of the past.”
Turning her dissatisfaction into a tangible gratitude-inducing and all the while melancholy-filled track, Abbott shares how she is able to get in a flow of productive creation.
“I write at my best when I am writing in the midst of inspiration. I write my best when I am struck with an idea and am in a space where I can sit down and instantly get to work on it. Unfortunately, this situation does not occur all the time, and I think it is really important to create time for myself to write and push myself even when the inspiration isn’t completely there.”
Being a senior at Belmont University, Abbott has had to forgo the typical debauchery of a final year of college in favor of precautionary events, but she doesn’t let what could have been hold her back. She hopes this track will serve as a reminder to the insanity of this year and the beauty of feeling stronger on the other side.
“I hope that people will listen to this song and feel lighter about the heaviness of this year. I hope that people will realize they are not alone and that going through the hard times with your friends by your side make everything a little bit better.”
Like a beautiful and tragically accurate time capsule, Abbott writes from the heart. She allowed herself to be forthcoming without being melodramatic, experimental yet approachable.
Abbott pushed the bounds of her own musical strengths and it paid off. As she continues to pave her own path as an artist, she is a testament to her own single. She shares that she was able to put this timely track together, unironically, alongside all her friends.
Check out “All My Friends” below.
Photo credit: Luke Rogers
