Being a music artist is like making or crafting an original recipe. In this case, sound aesthetic and music genre are three ingredients at the core of any musician, with everything blending perfectly to separate artists from one another.
Voice and Influences
Swedish born and Austrian based singer Emelie Trahan has a certain flow with her vocals. It is like her voice is cradling you as you are listening to her music.
Her vocal range is something to note as well. She can go in soothing like Billie Marten and she can have an elegantly strong voice much like Patsy Cline while also giving listeners an indie pop feel.
The ‘Meadow’ Era
In 2023 she released an EP entitled Meadow, a great collection of songs that shows just how versatile she is.
Intimacy and Inward Battles
The project deals with relationships, intimacy, and inward battles, forming a strong body of work that set the foundation for what would come next.
Tracks like “Plastic Ring,” “You & I,” and “Hopeless” each highlight different emotional textures within her songwriting. “Plastic Ring” explores the weight of promises that look beautiful on the outside but feel fragile beneath the surface, while “You & I” captures the tenderness of wanting connection even when life pulls two people apart.
“Hopeless,” on the other hand, leans into the quiet ache of uncertainty, where longing sits right next to self doubt. These songs build a clear emotional lineage that leads directly into the themes Emelie expands on in her newest release.
A New Chapter With “you chose this”
On November 12, 2025 Emelie Trahan released her latest highly anticipated single “you chose this.”
From Snippets to Single
For the past few weeks Emelie had been sharing this specific song creation process with snippets of her coming up with lyrics in the moment and sharing the slow progression of the track. The song is played over dreamy and simplistic acoustic guitar strings as she touches every gentle note that she sings.
When Love Turns To Distance
As for the subject matter of the song itself, it details a relationship that is tearing at the seams. Emelie feels isolated in the relationship as time between her and her partner has grown extremely far apart.
The Erosion In The Verses
The partner is not as open and as loving as Emelie once knew them to be, slowly but surely taking away pieces of themselves which Emelie once craved and was attracted to.
The opening lyric captures this painful erosion: “With every day that you don’t call I seem to forget you.” It is an admission that neglect can blur the outlines of somebody you once loved. She follows this idea with the line “And every time you choose to ignore I don’t care like I used to,” revealing that emotional distance can train the heart to protect itself.
The more the partner pulls away, the more Emelie recognizes the quiet truth that she is not losing them. They have already let go. She anchors this turning point with the lyric “You took away the things that made me want you in the first place,” a clear explanation that their behavior removed the very qualities that once made the relationship feel whole. This realization is where the shift toward self respect begins.
Choosing Self-Respect
Now out of an active self respect, the song becomes a statement that she is ready to leave the relationship and that her partner should not blame her for leaving.
Boundaries In The Bridge
By their actions of abandonment, he silently made the choice that he no longer loved her and did not desire to be in a relationship with her. The chorus reinforces that this emotional exit is something he created, not her. “you chose this so don’t look back. Let’s close this and all we had. The damage and everything.”
Even though she tries to move forward, the emotional weight remains heavy. She sings “I hear your name in every song, can’t seem to escape you,” a moment that shows how heartbreak lingers in everyday life. She is pushing him out emotionally, yet she admits “I’m not that strong, a weight I’m not used to,” which deepens your interpretation of Emelie feeling isolated and emotionally stretched thin. She is trying to detach but is still learning how to navigate the emptiness that follows.
Later in the song she observes the partner’s pattern of avoidance with the lyric “You ran away to find yourself. Don’t call me when you need help.” This line holds a firm boundary. It communicates that she is no longer a safety net for someone who left her abandoned. If he realizes what he is losing and tries to come back into her life, she is not waiting around. She states this directly with “And you can try to change my mind but I won’t let you get through.”
Closure, Softly Delivered
All throughout the track she reiterates the chorus as a form of emotional closure, driving home the reality of this breakup.
A Farewell And A Return To Self
“you chose this so don’t look back. Let’s close this and all we had.” When a person who is crying out for acceptance and proper care finally reaches the end of trying to salvage whatever relationship they thought they had, this becomes the point of no return.
“you chose this” is a song about the strength it takes to walk away when someone has already walked away from you emotionally. Through soft vocals and deeply confessional lyrics, Emelie Trahan captures the painful moment where love dissolves into distance, and where distance transforms into clarity. The song is both a farewell and a reclaiming of self, delivered with a restrained tenderness that makes every line resonate with anyone who has ever loved alone.