Caymanian singer and songwriter Aleah ‘Leah GC’ Copeland has released her debut EP, ‘Next Chapter in the Love Cycle’, following her recent win at this year’s Capella Star festival competition.
The five-track EP, released on 10 July, was produced by Leah GC’s management team, Life Of A G Entertainment, and explores the themes of love, heartbreak, passion and healing.
Fusing island rhythms with deep, relatable storytelling, Copeland told the Cayman Compass, “The sound on the EP ranges, so there’s a bit of soft, melodic, melancholy feel on some tracks and then it transitions to a more gritty, lively, uplifting feel on other tracks. Still sticking to my Caribbean roots, I challenged myself to do my first reggae song, which is one of my top favorites on the entire EP.”
Copeland was announced the first-place winner of the talent search competition Capella Star at this year’s Capella music festival, beating four other artists in the singing competition for the chance to shine alongside the international artists of the night.
The competition became the springboard and “opened up so many doors” for performances and collaborations with other artists. The up-and-coming star has been seen on stages across Cayman, including this year’s Talent Xposition of the Arts showcase held on 29 June.
With five songs that capture the “different phases women and men go through in relationships and [the] quest for love”, the EP features a collaboration with dancehall recording artist Nervz, titled, ‘You Got It’, which was released on 31 May.
“I needed a change of scenery in order to fully immerse myself in the creation of this EP, so my management team and I flew to Jamaica for a few days to record the songs,” Copeland said.
“The video for the collaboration with Nervz was also a product of that time in Jamaica. The experience was overall very liberating and being able to bare all my emotions, feelings and experiences on this five-track project was healing.”
She added, “[It’s] one of my favorite tracks. … Nervz was very easy to work with. Our sounds blended naturally and there was an easy chemistry between us as artists, which allowed us to easily execute both the song recording and the video.”
‘I drew from my own experiences’
Commenting on the process of creating the EP, Copeland said, “When writing the songs on this EP, I drew from my own experiences, as well as some of the experiences of my closest friends and their own challenges in love and relationships. I felt it would be so relatable to vocalise how we honestly feel trying to love and be loved correctly and the pros and cons that comes with that as well.”
Copeland said when it comes to her first full body of work, she is very pleased.
“I’ve been doing music for some time now and have released around six singles both with my management team and other producers, and it’s a great feeling to now have a full body of work out there that can resonate with people.”
Copeland hopes the EP will show other up-and-coming artists that “determination does pay off and they shouldn’t ever give up on their dreams”.
She described the EP as “a total reflection of the quality and professionalism with which my work is produced”.
The ‘Next Chapter in the Love Cycle’ EP is now streaming on all platforms and can be found on Copeland’s YouTube channel.
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