Ella Collier Finds Solace in Spirituality — and Sound

Most artists are after fame.

Ella Collier is after sustainability.

“Success for me as an artist is sustainability — financially, spiritually and emotionally — for myself and the people that are a part of this project,” Collier says.

The “project” is Ella Collier. Ella Collier is the project. Who she is is directly reflected in the music.

After all, it’s hard to escape what you were born to do. Collier has been writing songs since age 11 — “I remember being on the floor of my bedroom and with the guitar classic Taylor Swift style,” she says — and can’t go more than a few days without writing.

The goal isn’t to maximize output, but to make sense of her inner world through song.

Songwriting is a form of meditation for the 26-year-old artist. She channels that into her music, most notably on her upcoming debut album, DANGEROUS.

“Me meditating and me being a good daughter and being a good friend directly correlates to how I write my music,” Collier says.

Collier paraphrases songwriter Lauren Christy and says that good songwriting is like a “spiritual download from the cloud.”

“That’s what we all chase as musicians. When we go to sessions and when we write songs, we're chasing that lightning in a bottle feeling,” Collier says.

“It can be rare, but it's one of the most spiritual things I've experienced.”

But the highs can’t exist without the lows. Collier, a sober alcoholic, knows this all too well. She credits her sobriety to her faith.

The album is described as a “fearless sonic journey into the shadow self that confronts themes of ego, lust, impulsivity and fear.”

The title track brings listeners into this world through “the rabbit hole.”

“The rabbit hole is the entry point for the extremes of lust, the extremes of desire, the extremes of fear,” Collier says. “The core of all of this is fear.”

“That’s why I called it DANGEROUS, because when something's dangerous, the natural human element of this, and reaction to it, is fear. But also, fear excites me. Chaos excites me. What's the glamorized version of dangerous? What's the glamorized version of pushing myself past my limit?”

Navigating between these extremes, Collier says, is what allows her to navigate life. She says the album has become a “beautiful mirage of extremes.”

That's intentional. The journey of the album, like life, is not linear, Collier says.

“We're going through a lot of peaks and valleys, which is on purpose because the process of healing that I've learned is not just a straight line.”

As she moves through the healing process through songwriting and introspection, Collier surrounds herself with collaborators who foster an environment of authentic artistry and trust.

“I have a very strong vision, but I want to make sure that [my collaborators] feel like it's also theirs. I'm very big on letting the creatives in my life be creatives,” Collier says. “There's a level of intimacy that happens in the room that you have to surrender to.”

That sense of intimacy extends beyond collaborators. Collier wants to connect with others and let them in on the continuous process of becoming who she is, but she first needs to find clarity in herself.

“For me to be able to perform and even connect with people, I have to be able to connect with myself. I have to be able to be willing to dive in,” Collier says.

You can dive into Collier’s discography now as you await the release of DANGEROUS.

Collier released the singles in order of how the album will be sequenced to take you through the journey.

What are you waiting for? Enter the rabbit hole.