"Learn To Live", track-by-track by Carmie
Photo credit: Alex Andreev
About the EP:
With my new EP Learn To Live, I’m sharing some of the most personal chapters from my musical journey so far. This EP blends organic and electronic elements, drawing inspiration from artists like Holly Humberstone and Lizzy McAlpine, who have shaped my own sound. Writing from a place of raw honesty, I delve into the theme of addiction—something I’ve witnessed in both myself and the people around me. The songs capture the quiet struggles so many young people face today, mixing introspection, vulnerability, and the journey toward healing. It's been a cathartic process, and I hope these tracks resonate with anyone who has felt the weight of addiction or simply the need to break free and live for themselves.
Talk To Me:
The opening track of this EP, Talk To Me, reflects my experience of standing helplessly by as a loved one battles depression, withdrawing from the world and finding comfort in self-destructive patterns. It’s a song about love that endures despite growing distance, and at the same time, it’s a call for communication. In a time when mental health struggles are often overlooked, I really want to highlight the silent battles so many people face.
Things I No Longer Do:
This song is one of the most personal I’ve ever written. It comes from a time when I was emotionally raw, at a crossroads in life. I was 23, with no place to call home, mounting debt, and a recent breakup. I ended up moving back in with my parents, far away from the life I had built and the people I knew. During this period, I realized something crucial: I’d spent most of my life arranging everything around what others wanted, not what I needed or desired. So, I decided to start spending more time with myself—to really figure out who I was and what I wanted, rather than living for everyone else.
Faces Turn Blue:
I have this growing fear that technology might one day take over the world. One day, I was traveling from point A to point B, and it hit me too late—I had forgotten my phone. The first problem was I couldn’t pay for the bus ride. The second problem was that I was bored out of my mind. But as I sat there on the bus, with nothing to do but observe and reflect, I started noticing something strange—the blue glow on everyone’s faces from their screens. Every single person around me was completely buried in their phones, which I probably would have been too if I had remembered mine. I took out my notebook and jotted down my thoughts. A few days later, I finished writing this song with my friends Søren and Sebastian.
Learn To Live:
The title of this song is also the name of the entire EP because it encapsulates one of my biggest struggles—the need to always have people around me. In this track, I dive into the battle of holding onto relationships that are emotionally draining and even destructive. It captures the difficult, yet necessary, journey of breaking free from toxic connections and finding the courage to stand on my own. Sonically, the song mirrors this inner conflict by blending organic and electronic elements, which has been a central theme throughout this EP.
Cigarettes & Shots:
The final track on this EP captures what I think is one of the most insidious addictions—the pull of alcohol and nicotine. I was reminded of this one night when I ran into an old friend at a bar called Vinstuen in Aarhus. He was barely recognizable, buried in cigarettes and shots, clearly someone who had been living this way for a long time. We talked for a while, and he opened up about how this was his way of burying his sorrows. Seeing him like that was a haunting sight for me, and I couldn’t shake it off. I wanted to capture that moment in this song—to show how common this struggle is, how many people, just like my friend, hide behind substances to cope
I truly hope this EP connects with you. It’s a reflection of my early 20s, the highs and lows, and everything in between. Thank you for listening—I’m so grateful to share this part of my journey with you <3
- Carmie