William Black, ILLENIUM & Alana Springsteen - My Own Advice

By Gabriel Matias Castilho

Melodic Californian music producer and DJ William Black and Denver-based bass-music superstar Nicholas Daniel Miller–best known as Illenium–joined forces with Nashville-based country singer and songwriter Alana Springsteen on Oct. 13 to release a liberating self-conscious piece centered on understanding why it is easier to love your friends than to love yourself.

Immediately when starting the song we are hit with its reassuring chorus, sung with an underlying guitar riff that can captivate any listener. “It’s OK to be not OK sometimes,” sings Springsteen, recognizing the type of advice we tend to give to our friends, but we never apply to ourselves.

It is then no surprise that the song goes “too personal” for anyone who is listening right after: a callout to all the overthinkers and anxiety-ridden people in society, with a constant reminder that, again, “it’s OK to be not OK sometimes.”

The song explodes into a multitude of emotions when the beat drops, as it happens with any other William Black or Illenium song–and I am not complaining at all about it! The delicate use of emotional vocal chops below Springsteen’s beautiful voice helps create a highly dreamy and overcoming atmosphere that welcomes introspection.

The second chapter of the song becomes even more personal. “When my friends ask for a shoulder / I don’t guilt them for help / Why’s it easier to love them / Than it is to love myself?” Springsteen gives us an insight into our minds, saying that she thinks they are overwhelmed. The song tells us about how easier it is to guess our friends’ emotions and feelings than to actually listen to ourselves and our own words.

Maybe yes, maybe we should start listening to ourselves and take our own advice.