Just outside the door, a vacant chair with a sign reading “My Fear of Failure” welcomes me into the space and I immediately taste the biting yet sweet beauty I’m about to experience at Musings, an album listening party. Some thoughtful words greet me inside and inspire me to focus on the parts unseen inside myself. Socha (pronounced SO-KUH) did not come here to play, she came to make everyone feeeeel. Just. Feel it all. Guts and feelings splatter the walls and floor while serenity drips through the ceiling tiles. Not a single detail has been overlooked--there’s cheese plates with intention; a soft and sweet photo booth by Elio Winter (@eliowinter); a touchy-feely corner of tactile sensations; and stick-n-pokes so your insides can exist on your outsides.

Cheese, almonds, and honey are labeled with feelings and emotions like tenderness, fortitude & softness, so attendees can nourish themselves with what they need to bring them energy to show up wholeheartedly as themselves exactly as they are. After filling myself to the brim with all my soul could need, I made my way to the photo booth by Isra and the sensory station where plush pillows and a couch await to be snuggled into.

The feelings and free drinks are flowing as we’re allowed to get lost in the magic of it all for a bit longer before we’re huddled on the ground carefully hanging onto every word of Socha’s debut album, Musings. Every song is introspective, honest, and unafraid; opening with dreamy vocals and soft-punk soundscapes. She pauses in-between each track to share even more of herself, a never-ending fountain of tenderness and purity. The album takes everyone through a beautiful, cathartic emotional journey culminating with “Time in Pictures,” a stream of conscious tune about the complexities and pain felt in your early twenties. For this song, we’re treated to a dance choreographed and performed by Meggie Copeland and Socha that leaves us all entranced.

Friends share soft and gentle moments while surrounded by the art they’ve made with each other and for each other for this event. The songs that soundtracked these moments are perfectly curated. Happy and sad and vulnerable and up-beat. Not afraid to go through the real icky, in-between feelings that are hard to comprehend. The entire experience feels exactly how receiving a hug from Socha feels--it’s warm and tight and full full full of support, love, and grace.

We all left a little softer and a little more secure in our vulnerabilities and deep emotions often deemed as “weaknesses.” We exited as new people changed for the better and somehow closer to our truest selves, validated by Socha’s tenderness bleeding through every aspect of the event. I can’t wait to tap into that same energy by listening to Musings on repeat, but Socha is teasing out her project 2 tracks at a time over the course of the summer, leaving us all to practice some patience.

Listen to the first installations here.

Musings: A Listening Party

CULTURE CAPITAL