Meditative and moving, “Alive Now” is the latest release from Arula. The song is a fascinating exploration of the dark ambient-pop sound of the producer, singer, and songwriter. Arula provides hypnotic vocal mantras over droning synths, plucked strings, and New Age sounds to awaken the inner self and invigorate one’s true power.
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The song is accompanied by a two-part music video short that captures Arula’s deep connection to the natural world. Her appreciation of the earth and its renewing, life-giving properties is channeled into “Alive Now.”
Arula extrapolates on the creative process in the song, indicating that these elements of nature and connection are meant to emphasize the true meaning behind the lyrics: to achieve unity, one must “let the heart lead the way by striving to live in a deeper relationship with the earth.” Watch the two-part music video short on youtube.
Arula explains that she “love[s] the long haunting intro; it’s a bit deceiving because it starts with this feeling of calm, but the energy of the song picks up halfway through. This is a tactic that I use often, and some would say it’s not exactly a ‘smart move’ because I chose to save the most “commercial” parts for later in the song. However, I stay true to my influences and what I like; I appreciate the mystery and the patience it encourages. You could say it’s like the tantric path of songwriting.”
Further expanding upon the mystique behind “Alive Now,” Arula says that the song came together over the past two years, which inspired its sound, message, and music video. The song was “started in 2018, but came to fruition in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic… it is a reflection of themes that many of us have felt over the past two years. It is a message of how the sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness that we feel at times can be alchemized into art and creativity.”
