Bayleigh Cheek Sings Themes of Liberation in "Release Me"

Dallas native Bayleigh Cheek began her love affair with music at an early age thanks to her immersive upbringing. Both parents were in the music scene, exposing her to a variety of sounds ranging from psychedelic and folk to progressive rock and new wave.

Some of her personal music influences include Patti Smith, P.J. Harvey, Radiohead, and Angel Olsen, which led her to the creation of her EP, ‘Immortals.’ Bayleigh Cheek has frequently performed venues such as The Kessler Theatre, House of Blues, and Three Links, opening for acts including Matthew Sweet, and Dallas natives Medicine Man Revival playing consistently for the past five years.

Fresh off the release of her most recent experimental single, “Release Me,” Bayleigh Cheek delivers a sultry vocalization that smolders in radiant hues of personality. Drenched in the reverberated chambers that surround her lush timbres, the aura creates a blanket of comfort to come pouring from each word articulated. The combination of dark folk ambiance meets an indie-pop realm that hosts “Release Me” in all of its glory.

There is an almost ethereal essence to this track that weaves through elusive tenors and sparkling components of psychedelic tendencies. Allowing listeners to peek into her kaleidoscope lens, the misty lyrical motifs that Bayleigh Cheek submerges us in a narrative that seems to produce liberation from the grasp of dishonesty. ‘Release me. Open-eyed. Soul confined. To one thing,’ is the entrancing chorus that leads us into the imagery of emancipation of our mind and any toxicity that chooses to follow us.

With this being the lead single from the re-release of her EP ‘Immortals,’ set to come out in 2022 under the label Red Zeppelin Records, the bar is raised high for Bayleigh Cheek. Knowing that she’ll seamlessly top any challenge in her way, we look forward to the various routes of exploration that she’ll showcase in her progressive resonance.

We love how the entirety of “Release Me,” paints a bold picture in the realm of being freed! What inspired you to take on this topic in your single?

It just kind of naturally happened. For a few years now I have been writing this concept album, around that idea exactly. The thing in the back of your head that feeds you lies about yourself and how easily it is to fall into false concepts of yourself and believe them. Whether it was caused by an incident in your life or society, sometimes we just end up believing those lies. So like I said, I have been working on the full project for a while now so it’s kind of been on the front of my mind. When I started writing “Release Me,” it was almost begging to be the first thing released. Almost like a foreshadow of “hey we’re about to go and talk about some dark things, but I promise you’ll see the other side of it.” I want people to see the victory before the chaos.

Did you find this subject to take on an easier route of your creativity when bringing it to life? What did the process entail?

This subject has been very close to me for a while now. I hit a point in my life where I realized my mind had been my worst enemy and noticed so many others struggled with similar issues. I’ve been very inspired to write about it, and it has just kind of turned into its own thing. The process of writing “Release Me” came very naturally at that point, and by the time we went into the studio it just kind of evolved by itself. Even down to the instrumentation, ended up completely different than how I considered it going into the studio, but only in the best way. So essentially it’s the art of letting go, and this song taught me that.

Have you noticed drastic changes to yourself as an individual and artist once you broke free from what may have been restricting you? What’s your advice to your fan base that may struggle with this?

Oh absolutely! It’s still a daily battle, just like with anything because that’s life. It’s still there, I just know how to manage it better. The whole point is once you know the real truth about yourself, nothing can really take that away from you, which is where the title for the EP “Immortals” comes from. Doesn’t mean that those lies will just magically disappear, maybe for some people it does, but in my personal experience using that truth to combat those lies is where you have power over it. I’m definitely no expert. Music has given me the release and ability to talk about it, and if that speaks to anyone or even just helps someone not to feel alone, that’s the reason why I choose to write about it.

You’re set to re-release ‘Immortals,’ in 2022. That must be an exciting process for you! Could you please take us into what encouraged you to do so and what listeners can expect?

It’s definitely exciting. I self-released the EP last year in 2020, literally a week before the pandemic shut everything down, and didn’t get the chance to promote it. I was lucky enough to get nominated for Best New Artist and Best EP for the 2020 Dallas Observer Music Awards. Red Zeppelin Records wanted to re-release the EP, and I couldn’t be more excited to have this partnership. So with “Release Me,” there will be four more songs with the EP that will be released by the summer of this year. We are about to go in and start recording my first full-length album, which I am very excited to start creating, and will be released in 2022.

What has been your favorite personal release of this year, released by an artist you admire?

I’m pretty excited about the new 'LUMP' record. I feel not a lot of people of heard them yet, but I think there’s something special about their music and I feel like people should put them on their radar.

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